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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




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ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

XHB 16TH PRE8IDBNT 01" THB UNXTBD 3TATHS. 



ANECDOTES 

or 

Abraham Lincoln 

AND 

LINCOLN'S STORIES. 




[UNITED STATES CAPITOL. J 

INCLUDING 

Early Life Stories, Professional Life Stories, 

White House Stories, . War Stories, 

Miscellaneous Stories. 



Edited by J B. McCLURE 



i 






Compiler of "Moody's Anecdotes ;" "Moody's Child Stories;'''' "Edison and His 

Inventions;'" "Entertaining Anecdotes;" " Mistakes of Ingersoll ;" 

"Ingersolfs Answers;" etc,, etc. 



CHICAGO: 

RHODES & McCLURE, PUBLISHERS. 

1880. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 

J. B. McClure & R. S. Rhodes, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

All Rights Reserved. 



Electrotyped and Printed by Kingsbury & Wilson, 

Ottaway & Company. Binders. 



Said Mr. Lincoln, to Dr. Gulliver, on a certain occasion when the 
versatile Doctor had highly complimented the then coming President 
concerning one of his speeches: 

" I should very much like to know what it was in my speech which 
you thought so remarkable, aud which interested my friend, the Profes- 
sor (of Yale College), so much? " 

"The clearness," answered Dr. G., " of your statements, the unanswer- 
able style of your reasoning, and especially your illustrations, which 
■were romance, and pathos, and fun, and logic, all welded together." 

The great Lincoln thanked the clerical celebrity, and said: "That 
reminds me of a story," and then proceeded to tell how the Tale 
Professor had taken notes on his New Haven speech, and had lectured 
his class, and had followed him to Meriden for further " notes," etc. 

Thus is demonstrated the superior value that attaches to Mr. Lincoln's 
■"illustrations." which, as all the world knows, were made of pointed, 
pungent, pithy and practical stories, drawn from an inexhaustible 
source, and always available on every possible occasion. Perhaps there 
never lived a greater story-teller than Abraham Lincoln, and one who 
told them always with such magic effect. "With him, the "appropriate 
stoiy " was a.power, and his remarkable faculty in telling them was an 
essential factor in his greatness. 

In this volume the compiler has aimed to present, in a conveniently 
classified form, the Anecdotes and Stories of this wonderful man, as 
narrated by him to the lowly and the great, in peace and war, at the 
fireside and bar, in the wilderness and White-house, with that zest and 
potency which made Mr. Lincoln such a remarkable man. It is our 
sincere desire that in this form the book may be of real interest and 
prove a further means of usefulness to every reader. 

Our indebt duess is specially acknowledged for aid found in F. B. 
Carpenter's "Six Months in the "White-house;" J. G. Holland's "Life 
•of Lincoln;" the Press, and to the many friends who have contributed. 

J. B. McCLURE. 

Chicago, III., July 4, 1879. 

5 



EARLY LIFE. 

A Batch of Lincoln's Reminiscences 49 

A Hard Tussle with Seven Negroes — Life on a Mississippi Flat 

' Boat . - 27 

A Humorous Speech — Lincoln in the Black Hawk "War. 39 

A Pig Story — Lincoln's Kindness to the Brute Creation-. 26 

Kn Honest 'Bov— Young Lincoln " Pulls Fodder " Two Days for a 

Damaged Book 14 

An Incident of Lincoln's Early Hardships 18- 

An Incident or Two Illustrating Lincoln's Honesty 22 

Captain Lincoln — How he Became Captain 38 

Elected to the Legislature — Lincoln Walks to the State Capitol. . . 41 

General Linder's Early Recollections of Lincoln 46 

How Lincoln Earned his First Dollar "__ 13 

How Lincoln Helped to Build a Boat — How he Loaded the Live 

Stock 23 

How Lincoln Piloted a Flat Boat over a Mill Dam 34 

Lincola and his Gentle Annie — A Touching Incident 20 

Lincoln's First Political Speech 40 

Lincoln's Marriage — Some very Interesting Letters. 44 

Lincoln's Mechanical Ingenuity — His Patent Boat 31 

Lincoln's Mother — How he Loved Her 45 

Lincoln Splits Several Hundred Rails for a Pair of Pants 28 

Lincoln's Story of a Girl in New Salem 29 

Little Lincoln Firing at Big Game Through the Cracks of his 

Cabin Home. 17 

Mrs. Brown's Story of Young Abe 30 

Remarkable Story — " Honest Abe " as Postmaster 32 

Returning from the Legislature — A Joke on Lincoln's Big Feet.. 43 

Showing How Lincoln Resented an Insult 24 

6 



COM EX IS. 7 

Splitting- Bails and Studying Mathematics 34 

" The .Long Nine " — Lincoln the Longest of All 42 

What some Men say About Young Lincoln 25 

When and Where Lincoln Obtained the Xame of " Honest Abe," 31 

Young Lincoln and his Books — Their Influence on his Mind 19 

Young Lincoln and the " Clary's Grove Boys," 48 

Young Lincoln's iundness of Heart 18 

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 

A Famous Story — How Lincoln was Presented with a Knife 60 

A Revolutionary Prisoner Defended by Lincoln 75 

An Amusing Story concerning Thompson Campbell 60 

An Honest Lawyer — Some of Lincoln's Cases 74 

An Incident Related by one of Lincoln's Clients.. . 64 

General Linder's Account of the Lincoln-Shields Duel 71 

How Lincoln and Judge B Swapped Horses 55 

How Lincoln kept his Business Accounts 68 

Honest Abe and his Lady ClieDt. . 67 

Hon. Newton Bateman's Story of Mr. Lincoln 79 

Incident Connected with Liucoln's Nomination 70 

Lincoln and "His Sisters and his Cousins, and his Aunts," 67 

Lincoln and his Step-mother — How he Bought her a Farm 59 

Lincoln as a Story Teller — A Practical Example. 77 

Lincoln Defends the Son of an Old Friend Indicted for Murder. . 72 

Linei >ln in Court 68 

Lincoln's Pungent Retort 74 

Lincoln's Story of a Young Lawyer as told to General Garfield.. 58 

Lincoln's Story of Joe Wilson and his ''Spotted Animals," 63 

Lincoln's Valor — He Defends Col. Baker ijo 

One of Lincoln's Hardest Hits 69 

Remarkable Law Suit about a Colt — How Lincoln Won the Case, 55 

The Lincoln-Shields Duel — How it Originated 16 

Thrilling Story— Lincoln's Twenty Years' Agitation in Illinois... 76 

WHITE HOUSE INCIDENTS. 

A Home Incident — Lincoln and Little "Tad," 105 

A Little Story which Lincoln told the Preachers 85 

A Praying President — "Prayer and Praise," 120 

A " Pretty Tolerable Respectable Sort of a Clergyman," 94 

An Apt Illustration 99 



8 CONTENTS. 

An Instance where the President's Mind Wandered 104 

An Irish Soldier who wanted Something Stronger than Soda 

Water.. - - 90 

Comments of Mr. Lincoln on the Emancipation Proclamation... 109 

Common Sense 93 

Criticism— Its Effect on Mr. Lincoln— A Bull Frog Story Ill 

Ejecting a Cashiered Officer from the White House... 113 

How Lincoln and Stanton Dismissed Applicants for Office 101 

How Lincoln "Browsed Around," 100 

How Lincoln Opened the Eyes of a Visitor. 97 

How Lincoln Stood up for the Word " Sugar Coated," 86 

How the Negroes Regarded " Massa Linkum," 115 

Lincoln's Advice to a Prominent Bachelor 87 

Lincoln and the Committee on " Grant's Whisky," 94 

Lincoln and the Newspapers Ill 

Lincoln and the Preacher 104 

Lincoln and the Wall Street Gold Gamblers 114 

Lincoln Arguing Against the Emancipation Proclamation 110 

Lincoln Cutting Red Tape 100 

Lincoln's Habits in the White House— The Same " Old Abe," 117 

Lincoln's High Compliment to the Women of America 118 

Lincoln in the Hour of Deep Sorrow — He Recalls his Mother's 

Prayers 118 

Lincoln's Laugh - 111 

Lincoln's Little Speech to the Union League Committee 113 

Lincoln Mourning for his Lost Son is Comforted by Rev. Dr.Vinton, 106 

Looking out lor Breakers 91 

Lincoln's Story of a P< odle Dog 112 

Lincoln Wipes the Tears from his Eyes, and Tells a Story 109 

Minnehaha and Minneboohoo .^ 97 

More Light and Less Noise 99 

Mr. Lincoln and the Bashful Bo}"s. 88 

One of Lincoln's Drolleries 101 

One of Lincoln's Last Storie3 116 

President Lincoln and the Artist, Carpenter 97 

Telling a Story and Pardoning a Soldier — Lincoln did Both 121 

The Kind of Cane Lincoln Made and Carried when a Boy 92 

Trying the " Greens " on Jake— A Serious Experiment 85 

Stories Illustrating Lincoln's Memory .• 92 

Work Enough for Twenty Presidents 91 



CONTENTS. 



WAR STORIES. 

A Celebrated Case Settled with Lincoln-like Celerity 140 

A Church which God Wanted for the Wounded Soldiers. 144 

A Dream that was Portentous — What Lincoln Said to General 

Grant About it . 147 

A Little Soldier Boy that Lincoln wanted to Bow to 127 

Amusing Anecdote of a " Hen-pecked Husband," 138 

A Shoit Practical Sermon 139 

A Soldier that Knew no Royalty ... . 126 

A Touching Incident in the Life of Lincoln 132 

An Interesting Visit to the Hospitals — How the Soldiers Received 

Him -. - 132 

Could not allow a Soldier to be more Polite than Himself 131 

Cutting Reply to the Confederate Commission — His Story of 

" Root Hog or Die," ... - 155 

How Lincoln Illustrated What Might Be Done with Jeff Davis.. 154 

How Lincoln Relieved Rosecrans 145 

Interesting Incident Connected with Signing the Emancipation 

Proclamation 146 

Lincoln and Judge Baldwin , 148 

Lincoln's Curt Reply to a Clergyman . ..: 139 

Lincoln Proposes to " Borrow the Army " from one of his Gen r 

erals -.. 131 

Lincoln's Second Nomination — Lincoln Sees Two Images of him- 
self in a Mirror.. ... 153 

Lincoln's War Story of Andy Johnson — Col. Moody's Prayers 125 

Lincoln While in Bed Pardons a Soldier 128 

Mr. Lincoln and a Clergyman - 134 

No Mercy for the Man Stealer — Lincoln Uses Very Strong Lan- 
guage . . 151 

Recollections of the War President, by Judge William Johnson.. 141 

Remarkable Letter from Lincoln to General Hooker 135 

Sallie Ward's Practical Philosophy 128 

The Great Thing About General Grant as Lincoln Saw it 153 

The Merciful President 150 

The Serpent in Bed with Two Children 143 

What Lincoln Considered the ' Great Event of the Nineteenth 

Century" 130 



10 CONTENTS. 



MISCELLANEOUS STORIES. 

A couple of good Stories — How Lincoln took his Altitude — A 

Prophetic Bowl of Milk 169 

Abraham Lincoln's Death — Walt Whitman's description of the 

Scene at Ford's Theatre 184 

An Amusing Illustration ! 168 

Attending Henry Ward Beecher's Church — What Lincoln said of 

Beecher 159 

D.L.Moody's Story of Lincoln's Compassion 176 

Feat at the Washington Navy Yard with an Axe 162 

Funeral Services of Lincoln's Mother — The Old Pastor and Youug 

Abraham 164 

How Lincoln Won a Case from his Partner — Laughable Toilet 

Ignorance 171> 

Interesting Anecdote of Lincoln related by Rev. J. P. Gulliver. . . 173 

Lincoln and his New Hat 162 

Lincoln and the Little Baby— A Touching Story. 175 

Lincoln at the Five Points House of Industry at New York 161 

Lincoln's Failure as a Merchant— Six Years later he pays his 

Debts 163 

Lincoln Jokyig Douglas— A Splendid "Whisky Cask," 178 

Lincoln's Last Story and Last Written Words and Conversations. 182 
Lincoln's Life as written by himself — The whole thing in a Nut- 
shell 179 

Lincoln's Love for Little Tad 160 

Lincoln's Love for the Little Ones 170 

Lincoln's Story about Dan Webster's Soiled Hands. 175 

Little Lincoln Stories. 180 

Something concerning Mr. Lincoln's Religious Views 166 

Thurlow Weed's Recollections 167 





Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the U. S Frontispiece 

United States Capitol Vignette, Title Page 

Early Home op the Lincolns in Illinois - 36 

Birth Place op Abraham Lincoln... - 16 

Illinois State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois - 54 

Abraham Lincoln, the Lawyer - - - - 66 

United States Capitol at Washington S4 

White Pigeon Church 96 

Lincoln Monument, Springfield, Illinois 124 

Douglas Monument, Chicago 138 

Home of the Lincolns in Indiana 158 

Abraham Lincoln's Residence at Springfield, Illinois 172 



**§b» CLASglFICATIOK. ^f§» 

Early Life Stories -- 13 

Professional Life Stories — 55 

White-House Incidents -- 85 

War Stories - 125 

Miscellaneous Stories 159' 

11 





/' v V 



ANECDOTES 



Abraham Lincoln 



EARLY LIFE. 



How Lincoln Earned His First Dollar. 

The following interesting story was told by Mr. Lincoln 
to Mr. Seward and a few friends one evening in the 
Executive Mansion at Washington. The President said : 
" Seward, you never heard, did you, how I earned my first 
dollar ? " " No," rejoined Mr. Seward. " Well," continued 
Mr. Lincoln, "I belonged, you know, to what they call 
down South, the « scrubs.' We had succeeded in raising, 
chiefly by my labor, sufficient produce, as I thought, to 
justify me in taking it down the river to sell. 

" After much persuasion, I got the consent of mother to 
go, and constructed a little flatboat, large enough to take a 
barrel or two of things that we had gathered, with myself 
and little bundle, down to the Southern market. A steamer 
was coming down the river. We have, you know, no 
wharves on the Western streams ; and the custom was, if 
passengers were at any of the landings, for them to go out 
in a boat, the steamer stopping and taking them on board. 

" I was contemplating my new flatboat, and wondering 
whether I could make it stronger or improve it in any par- 



14 LINCOLN STORIES. 

ticular, when two men came down to the shore in carriages 
with trunks, and looking at the different boats singled out 
mine, and asked, 'Who owns this V I answered, somewhat 
modestly, ' I do.' ' "Will you,' said one of them, ' take us 
and our trunks out to the steamer ?' k Certainly,' said I. 
I was very glad to have the chance of earning something. 
I supposed that each of them would give me two or three 
bits. The trunks were put on my flatboat, the passengers 
seated themselves on the trunks, and I sculled them out to 
the steamboat. 

" They got on board, and I lifted up their heavy trunks, 
and put them on deck. The steamer was about to put on 
steam again, when I called out that they had forgotten to 
pay me. Each of them took from' his pocket a silver half- 
dollar, and threw it on the floor of my boat. I could 
scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the money. Gentle- 
men, you may think it was a very little thing, and in these 
days it seems to me a trifle ; but it was a most important 
incident in my life. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor 
boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day — that by honest 
work I had earned a dollar. The world seemed wider and 
fairer before me. I was a more hopeful and confident being 
from that time." 



An Honest Boy— Young Lincoln "Pulls Fodder" Two Days for 
a Damaged Book. 

The following incident, illustrating several traits already 
developed in the early boyhood of Lincoln, is vouched for 
by a citizen of Evansville, Ind., who knew him in the days 
referred to : 

In his eagerness to acquire knowledge, young Lincoln 
had borrowed of Mr. Crawford, a neighboring farmer, a 
copy of Weems' Life of Washington — the only one known 



BABLY LIFE. 17 

to be in existence in that region of country. Before he 
had finished reading the book, it had been left, by a not 
unnatural oversight, in a window. Meantime, a rain storm 
came on, and the book was so thoroughly wet as to make it 
nearly worthless. This mishap caused him much pain ; 
but he went, in all honesty, to Mr. Crawford with the 
ruined book, explained the calamity that had happened 
through his neglect, and offered, not having sufficient 
money, to " work out " the value of the book. 

" Well, Abe," said Mr. Crawford, after due deliberation,, 
" as it's you, I won't be hard on you. Just come over and 
pull fodder for me for two days, and we will call our 
accounts even." 

The offer was readily accepted, and the engagement lit- 
erally fulfilled. As a boy, no less than since, Abraham 
Lincoln had an honorable conscientiousness, integrity, 
industry, and an ardent love of knowledge. 



Little Lincoln Firing at Big Game Through the Cracks of His 
Cabin Home. 

While yet a little boy, one day when Lincoln was in his 
cabin home, in what was then a wilderness in Indiana, he 
chanced to look through a crack in the log walls of the 
humble residence and espied a flock of wild turkeys feeding 
within range of his father's trusty rifle. He at once took 
in the possibilities of the situation and ventured to take 
down the old gun, and quietly putting the long barrel 
through the opening, with a hasty aim, fired into the flock. 
When the smoke had cleared away, it was observed that 
one of the turkeys lay dead on the field. This is said to 
have been the largest game on which Lincoln ever pulled a 
trigger, his brilliant success in this instance having no 
power to excite in him the passion for hunting. 
2 



18 LINCOLN STORIES. 

An Incident of Lincoln's Early Hardships and Narrow Escape 

from Death. 

A little incident occurred while young Lincoln lived in 
Indiana, which illustrates the early hardships and surround- 
ings to which he was subjected. On one occasion he waa 
obliged to take his grist upon the back of his father's 
horse, and go fifty miles to get it ground. The mill itself 
was very rude, and driven by horse-power. The customers 
were obliged to wait their " turn," without reference to 
their distance from home, and then use their own horse to 
propel the machinery ! On this occasion, Abraham, having 
arrived at his turn, fastened his mare to the lever, and was 
following her closely upon her rounds, when, urging her 
with a switch, and " clucking " to her in the usual way, he 
received a kick from her which prostrated him, and made 
him insensible. With the first instant of returning con- 
sciousness, he finished the cluck, which he had commenced 
when he received the kick (a fact for the psychologist), and 
with the next he probably thought about getting home, 
where he arrived at last, battered, but ready for further 
service. 



Young Lincoln's Kindness of Heart — He Carries Home and Norses 

a Drunkard. 

An instance of young Lincoln's practical humanity at an 
early period of his life is recorded, as follows : One even- 
ing, while returning from a " raising " in his wide neigh- 
borhood, with a number of companions, he discovered a 
straying horse, with saddle and bridle upon him; The 
horse was recognized as belonging to a man who was accus- 
tomed to excess in drink, and it was suspected at once that 
the owner was not far off. A short search only was neces- 
sary to confirm the suspicions of the young men. 



EARLY LIFE. 19 

The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless con- 
dition, upon the chilly ground. Abraham's companions 
urged the cowardly policy of leaving him to his fate, but 
young Lincoln would not hear to the proposition. At his 
request, the miserable sot was lifted to his shoulders, and 
he actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house. 
Sending word to his father that he should not be back that 
night, with the reason for his absence, he attended and 
nursed the man until the morning, and had the pleasure of 
believing that he had saved his life. 



Young Lincoln and His Books— Their Influence on His Mind. 

The books which Abraham had the early privilege of 
reading were the Bible, much of which he could repeat, 
JEsop's Fables, all of which he could repeat, Pilgrim's Prog- 
ress, Weems' Life of Washington, and a Life of Henry 
Clay, which his mother had managed to purchase for him. 
Subsequently he read the Life of Franklin and Ramsey's 
Life of Washington. In these books, read and re-read, he 
found meat for his hungry mind. The Holy Bible, JEsop 
and John Bunyan — could three better books have been 
chosen for him from the richest library? 

For those who have witnessed the dissipating effects of 
many books upon the minds of modern children it is not 
hard to believe that Abraham's poverty of books was the 
wealth of his life. These three books did much to perfect 
that which his mother's teachings had begun, and to form 
a character which, for quaint simplicity, earnestness, truth- 
fulness and purity has never been surpassed among the his- 
toric personages of the world. The Life of Washington, 
while it gave to him a lofty example of patriotism, incident- 
ally conveyed to his mind a general knowledge of Ameri- 
can history; and the Life of Henry Clay spoke to him of a 



20 LINCOLN STORIES. 

living man who had risen to political and professional emi- 
nence from circumstances almost as humble as his own. 

The latter book undoubtedly did much to excite his taste 
for politics, to kindle his ambition, and to make him a warm 
admirer and partisan of Henry Clay. Abraham must have 
been very young when he read Weems' Life of Washing- 
ton, and we catch a glimpse of his precocity in the thoughts 
which it excited, as revealed by himself in a speech made 
to the New Jersey Senate, while on his way to Washington 
to assume the duties of the Presidency. 

Alluding to his early reading of this book, he says:. " I 
remember all the accounts there given of the battle fields 
and struggles for the liberties of the country, and none 
fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the 
struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. * * * 1 recol- 
lect thinking then, boy even though I ivas, that there must 
have been something more than common that those men 
struggled for." Even at this age, he was not only an inter- 
ested reader of the story, but a student of motives. 



Lincoln and His Gentl8 Annie — A Touching Incident. 

The following interesting particulars connected with the 
early life of Abraham Lincoln, are from the Virginia (111.) 
Enquirer, of date March 1, 1879: 

John McNamer was buried last Sunday, near Petersburg, 
Menard County. A long while ago he was Assessor and 
Treasurer of the county for several successive terms. Mr. 
McNamer was an early settler in that section, and before 
the Town of Petersburg was laid out was in business at Old 
Salem, a village that existed many years ago two miles 
south of the present site of Petersburg. Abe Lincoln was 
then postmaster of the place, and sold whisky to its inhabi- 
tants. There are old-timers yet living in Menard who 




EARLY LIFE. 21 

bought many a jug of corn-juice from Old Abe when he 
lived at Salem. It was here that Annie liutlege dwelt, and ^OytriVwT 
in whose grave Lincoln wrote that his heart was buried. 
As the story runs, the fair and gentle Annie was originally 
John McNamer's sweetheart, but Abe took a ' ; shine " to 
the young lady, and succeeded in heading off McNamer, 
and won her affections. But Annie Rutlege died, and Lin- 
coln went to Springfield, where he some time afterwards 
married. 

It is related that during the war a lady belonging to a 
prominent Kentucky family visited Washington to beg for 
her. son's pardon, who was then in prison under sentence of 
death for belonging to a band of guerrillas who had com- 
mitted many murders and outrages. With the mother was 
her daughter, a beautiful young lady, who was an accom- 
plished musician. Mr. Lincoln received the visitors in his 
usual kind manner, and the mother made known the object 
of her visit, accompanying her plea with tears and sobs and 
all the customary dramatic incidents. 

There were probably extenuating circumstances in favor 
of the young Rebel prisoner, and while the President seemed 
to be deeply pondering, the young lady moved to a piano 
near by, and taking a seat commenced to sing " Gentle 
Annie," a very sweet and pathetic ballad, which, before the 
war, was a familiar song in almost every household in the 
Union, and is not yet entirely forgotten, for that matter. 
It is to be presumed the young lady sang the song with 
more plaintiveness and effect than Old Abe had ever heard it 
in Springfield. During its rendition, he arose from his 
seat, crossed the room to a window in the westward, through 
which he gazed for several minutes with that " sad, far- 
away look," which has so often been noted as one of his 
peculiarities. His memory, no doubt, went back to the 
days of his humble life on the banks of the Sangamon, and 



22 LINCOLN STORIES. 

with visions of Old Salem and its rustic people, who once 
gathered in his primitive store, came a picture of the •' Gen- 
tle Annie " of his youth, whose ashes had rested for many 
long years under the wild flowers and brambles of the old 
rural burying-ground, but whose spirit then, perhaps, guided 
him to the side of mercy. Be that as it may, Mr. Lincoln 
drew a large red silk handkerchief from his coat-pocket, 
with which he wiped his face vigorously. Then he turned, 
advanced quickly to his desk, wrote a brief note, which he 
handed to the lady, and informed her that it was the par- 
don she sought. 

The scene was no doubt touching in a great degree, and 
proves that a nice song, well sung, has often a powerful 
influence in recalling tender recollections. It proves, also, 
that Abraham Lincoln was a man of fine feelings, and that, 
if the occurrence was a put-up job on the lady's part, it 
accomplished its purpose all the same. 



An Incident or Two Illustrating Lincoln's Honosty. 

Lincoln could not rest for an instant under the conscious- 
ness that he had, even unwittingly, defrauded anybody. On 
one occasion, while clerking in OfTutt's store, at New 
Salem, 111., he sold a woman a little bill of goods, amount- 
ing in value by the reckoning, to two dollars six and a quar- 
ter cents. He received the money, and the woman went 
away. On adding the items of the bill again, to make him- 
self sure of correctness, he found that he had taken six and 
a quarter cents too much. It was night, and, closing and 
locking the store, he started out on foot, a distance of two 
or three miles, for the house of his defrauded customer, 
and, delivering over to her the sum whose possession had 
so much troubled him, went home satisfied. 

On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for 



EARLY LIFE. 23 

the night, a woman entered, and asked for a half pound of 
tea. The tea was weighed out and paid for, and the store 
was left for the night. The next morning, Lincoln entered 
to begin the duties of the day, when he discovered a four- 
ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he had 
made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a long 
walk before breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea. 
These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the 
man's perfect conscientiousness — his sensitive honesty — 
better perhaps than they would if they were of greater 
moment. 



How Lincoln Helped to Build a Boat, and How He Loaded the 

Live Stock. 

While a laboring man, Lincoln, Hanks & Johnston on 
one occasion contracted to build a boat on Sangamon River, 
at Sangamon Town, about seven miles northwest of Spring- 
field. For this work they were to receive twelve dollars a 
month each. When the boat was finished (and every plank 
of it was sawed by hand with a whip-saw), it was launched 
on the Sangamon, and floated to a point below New Salem, 
in Menard (then Sangamon) County, where a drove of hogs 
was to be taken on board. At this time, the hogs of the 
region ran wild, as they do now in portions of the border 
states. Some of them were savage, and all, after the man- 
ner of swine, were difficult to manage. They had, how- 
ever, been gathered and penned, but not an inch could they 
be made to move toward the boat. All the ordinary 
resources were exhausted in the attempts to get them on 
board. There was but one alternative, and this Abraham 
adopted. He actually carried them on board, one by one. 
His long arms and great strength enabled him to grasp 
them as in a vise, and to transfer them rapidly from the 



24 LINCOLN STORIES. 

shore to the boat. They then took the boat to New Orleans, 
according to contract. 



An Incident Showing How Lincoln Resented an Insult — He Gave 
the Victim a Thrashing. 

While showing goods to two or three women in Offutt's 
store one day, a bully came in and began to talk in an 
offensive manner, using much profanity, and evidently 
wishing to provoke a quarrel. Lincoln leaned over the 
counter, and begged him, as ladies were present, not to 
indulge in such talk. The bully retorted that the oppor- 
tunity had come for which he had long sought, and he 
would like to see the man who could hinder him from say- 
ing anything he might choose to say. Lincoln, still cool, 
told him that if he would wait until the ladies retired, he 
would hear what he had to say, and give him any satisfac- 
tion he desired. 

As soon as the women were gone, the man became 
furious. Lincoln heard his boasts and his abuse for a time, 
and finding that he was not to be put off without a fight, 
said — " Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I may as 
well whip you as any other man." This was just what the 
bully had been seeking, he said, so out of doors they went, 
and Lincoln made short work with him. He threw him 
upon the ground, held him there as if he had been a child, 
and gathering some " smart- weed " which grew upon the 
spot, rubbed it into his face and eyes, until the fellow bel- 
lowed with pain. Lincoln did all this without a particle of 
anger, and when the job was finished, went immediately 
for water, washed his victim's face, and did everything he 
could to alleviate his distress. The upshot of the matter 
was that the man became his fast and life-long friend, and 
was a better man from that day. It was impossible then, 



EARLY LIFE. 25 

and it always remained impossible, for Lincoln to cherish 
resentment or revenge. 



What Some Men Say About Yoang Lincoln — His First Meeting 
Wifth Richard Yates. 

Lincoln was a marked and peculiar young man. People 
talked about him. His studious habits, his greed for infor- 
mation, his thorough mastery of the difficulties of every 
new position in which he was placed, his intelligence touch- 
ing all matters of public concern, his unwearying good 
nature, his skill in telling a story, his great athletic power, 
his quaint, odd ways, his uncouth appearance, all tending to 
bring him in sharp contrast with the dull mediocrity by 
which he was surrounded. Denton Offutt, his old employer 
in the store, said, in the extravagance of his admiration, 
that he knew more than any other man in the United States. 
The Governor of Indiana, one of Offutt's acquaintances, 
said, after having a conversation with Lincoln, that the 
young man " had talent enough in him to make a Presi- 
dent." In every circle in which he found himself, whether 
refined or coarse, he was always the centre of attraction. 

William G. Greene says that when he (Greene) was a 
member of Illinois College, he brought home with him, on 
a vacation, Richard Yates, afterwards Governor of the state, 
and some other boys, and, in order to entertain them, took 
them all up to see Lincoln. He found him in his usual 
position and at his usual occupation. He was flat on his 
back, on a cellar door, reading a newspaper. That was the 
manner in which a President of the United States and a 
Governor of Illinois became acquainted with one another. 
Mr. Greene says that Lincoln then could repeat the whole 
of Burns, and was a devoted student of Shakspeare. So 
the rough backwoodsman, self-educated, entertained the 



26 LINCOLN STORIES. 

college boys, and was invited to dine with them on bread 
and milk. How he managed to upset his bowl of milk is 
not a matter of history, but the fact that he did so is, as is 
the further fact that Greene's mother, who loved Lincoln, 
tried to smooth over the accident and relieve the young 
man's embarrassment. 



A Pig Story — Lincoln's Kindness to the Brute Creation. 

An amusing incident occurred in connection with " riding 
the circuit," which gives a pleasant glimpse into the good 
lawyer's heart. He was riding by a deep slough, in which, to 
his exceeding pain, he saw a pig struggling, and with such 
faint efforts that it was evident that he could not extricate him- 
self from the mud. Mr. Lincoln looked at the pig and the 
mud which enveloped him, and then looked at some new 
clothes with which he had but a short time before enveloped 
himself. Deciding against the claims of the pig, he rode 
on, but he could not get rid of the vision of the poor brute, 
and, at last, after riding two miles, he turned back, deter- 
mined to rescue the animal at the expense of his new clothes. 
Arrived at the spot, he tied his horse, and coolly went to 
work to build of old rails a passage to the bottom of the 
hole. Descending on these rails, he seized the pig and 
dragged him out, but not without serious damage to the 
clothes he wore. Washing his hands in the nearest brook, 
and wiping them on the grass, he mounted his gig and rode 
along. He then fell to examining the motive that sent him 
back to the release of the pig. At the first thought it 
seemed to be pure benevolence, but, at length, he came to 
the conclusion that it was selfishness, for he certainly went 
to the pig's relief in order (as he said to the friend to whom 
he related the incident,) to " take a pain out of his own 
mind." This is certainly a new view of the nature of 



EARLY LIFE. 2T 

sympathy, and one which it will be well for the casuist to 
examine. 



A Hard Tussle with Seven Negroes — Life on a Mississippi Flat 

Boat. 

At the age of nineteen, Abraham made his second essay 
in navigation, and this time caught something more than a 
glimpse of the great world in which he was destined to play- 
so important a part. A trading neighbor applied to him 
to take charge of a flat-boat and its cargo, and, in company 
with his own son, to take it to the sugar plantations near 
New Orleans. The entire business of the trip was placed 
in Abraham's hands. The fact tells its own story touching 
the young man's reputation for capacity and integrity. He 
had never made the trip, knew nothing of the journey, was 
unaccustomed to business transactions, had never been much 
upon the river; but his tact, ability and honesty were so 
trusted that the trader was willing to risk his cargo and his 
son in Lincoln's care. 

The incidents of a trip like this were not likely to be 
exciting, but there were many social chats with settlers and 
hunters along the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi, and 
there was much hailing of similar craft afloat. Arriving at 
a sugar plantation somewhere between Natchez and New 
Orleans, the boat was pulled in, and tied to the shore for 
purposes of trade; and here an incident occuried which was 
sufficiently exciting, and one which, in the memory of recent 
events, reads somewhat strangely. Here seven negroes 
attacked the life of the future liberator of the race, and it 
is not improbable that some of them have lived to be eman- 
cipated by his proclamation. Night had fallen, and the 
two tired voyagers had lain down upon their hard bed for 
sleep. Hearing a noise on shore, Abraham shouted : " Who's- 



<28 LINCOLN STORIES. 

there?" The noise continuing, and no voice replying, he 
sprang to his feet, and saw seven negroes, evidently bent on 
plunder. 

Abraham guessed the errand at once, and seizing a hand- 
spike, rushed toward them, and knocked one into the water 
the moment he touched the boat. The second, third and 
fourth who leaped on board were served in the same rough 
way. Seeing that they were not likely to make headway 
in their thieving enterprise, the remainder turned to flee. 
Abraham and his companion growing excited and warm with 
their work, leaped on shore, and followed them. Both were 
too swift on foot for the negroes, and all of them received 
& severe pounding. They returned to their boat just as the 
others escaped from the water, but the latter fled into the 
darkness as fast as their feet could carry them. Abraham 
and his fellow in the fight were both injured, but not dis- 
abled. Not being armed, and unwilling to wait until the 
negroes had received reinforcements, they cut adrift, and 
floating down a mile or two, tied up to the bank again, and 
watched and waited for the morning. 

The trip was brought at length to a successful end. The 
cargo, or " load," as they called it, was all disposed of for 
money, the boat itself sold for lumber, and the young men 
retraced the passage, partly, at least, on shore and on foot, 
•occupying several weeks in the difficult and tedious journey. 



Iiincoln Splits Several Hundred Rails for a Pair of Pants— How 
He Looked, as Described by a Companion. 

A gentleman by the name of George Cluse, who used to 
work with Abraham Lincoln during his first years in Illi- 
nois, says that at that time he was the roughest looking 
person he ever saw. He was tall, angular and ungainly, 
wore trowsers made of flax and tow, cut tight at the ankle 



EARLY LIFE. 29 

and out> at both knees. He was known to be very poor, but 
he was a welcome guest in every house in the neighborhood. 
Mr. Cluse speaks of splitting rails with Abraham, and reveals 
some very interesting facts concerning wages. Money was a 
commodity never reckoned upon. Lincoln split rails to get 
clothing, and he made a bargain with Mrs. Nancy Miller 
to split four hundred rails for every yard of brown jeans r 
dyed with white walnut bark, that would be nescessary to 
make him a pair of trowsers. In these days Lincoln used 
to walk five, six, and seven miles to work. 



Lincoln's Story of a Girl in New Salem. 

Among the numerous delegations which thronged "Wash- 
ington in the early part of the war, was one from New 
York, which urged very strenuously the sending of a fleet 
to the southern cities — Charleston, Mobile and Savannah — 
with the object of drawing off the rebel array from Wash- 
ington. Mr. Lincoln said the object reminded him of the 
case of a girl in New Salem, who was greatly troubled with 
a " singing " in her head. Various remedies were suggested 
by the neighbors, but nothing tried afforded any relief. At 
last a man came along — " a common-sense sort of man," 
said he, inclining his head towards the gentleman compli- 
mentarily — " who was asked to prescribe for the difficulty. 
After due inquiry and examination, he said the cure was 
very simple. 

* What is it?' was the question. 

' Make plaster of psalm-tunes, and apply to her feet, and 
draw the " singing " down? was the rejoinder." 



30 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Mrs. Brown's Story of Young Abe— How a Man Slept with the 
President of the United States. 

JRev. A. Hale, of Springfield, 111., is responsible for the 
following interesting story: Mr. Hale, in May, 1861 (after 
Lincoln's election to the Presidency), went out about seven 
miles from his home to visit a sick lady, and found there a Mrs. 
Brown who had come in as a neighbor. Mr. Lincoln's name 
having been mentioned, Mrs . Brown said : " Well, I remem- 
ber Mr. Linken. He worked with my old man thirty-four 
year ago, and made a crap. "We lived on the same farm 
where we live now, and he worked all the season, and made 
a crap of corn, and the next "Winter they hauled the crap 
all the way to Galena, and sold it for two dollers and a half 
a bushel. At that time there was no public houses, and 
travelers were obliged to stay at any house along the road 
that could take them in. One evening: a right smart look- 
ing man rode up to the fence, and asked my old man if he 
could get to stay over night. ' "Well,' said Mr. Brown, ' we 
can feed your crittur, and give you something to eat, but 
we can't lodge you unless you can sleep on the same bed 
with the hired man.' The man hesitated, and asked, ' "Where 
is he?' ' "Well, said Mr. Brown, ' you can come and see him.' 
So the man got down from his crittur, and Mr. Brown took 
him around to where, in the shade of the house, Mr. Lin- 
coln lay his full length on the ground, with an open book 
before him. ' There,' said Mr. .Brown, pointing at him, 
*he is.' The stranger looked at him a minute, and said, 
' Well, I think he'll do,' and he staid and slept with the 
President of the United States." 



EARLY LIFE. 31 

When and Where Lincoln Obtained the Name of " Honest Abe." 

During the year that Lincoln was in Denton Offutt's 
store, that gentleman, whose business was somewhat widely 
and unwisely spread about the country, ceased to prosper 
in his finances, and finally failed. The store was shut up, 
the mill was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of busi- 
ness. The year had been one of great advances, in many 
respects. He had made new and valuable acquaintances, 
read many books, mastered the grammar of his own tongue, 
won multitudes of friends, and become ready for a step 
still further in advance. Those who could appreciate brains 
respected him, and those whose highest ideas of a man 
related to his muscles were devoted to him. Every one 
trusted him. It was while he was preforming the duties of 
the store that he acquired the soubriquet " Honest Abe " 
— a characterization that he never dishonored, and an abbre- 
viation that he never outgrew. He was judge, arbitrator, 
referee, umpire, authority, in all disputes, games and matches 
of man-flesh and horse-flesh; a pacificator in all quarrels; 
everybody's friend; the best natured, the most sensible, the 
best informed, the most modest and unassuming, the kind- 
est, gentlest, roughest, strongest, best young fellow in all 
New Salem and the region round about. 



Lincoln's Mechanical Ingenuity— His Patent Boat. 

That he had enough mechanical genius to make him a 
good mechanic, there is no doubt. "With such rude tools 
as were at his command he had made cabins and flat-boats; 
and after his mind had become absorbed in public and pro- 
fessional affairs he often recurred to his mechanical dreams 
for amusement. One of his dreams took form, and he en- 
deavored to make a practical matter of it. He had had 



32 LINCOLN STORIES. 

experience in the early navigation of the Western rivers. 
One of the most serious hinderances to this navigation was- 
low water, and the lodgment of the various craft on the 
shifting shoals and bars with which these rivers abound. 
He undertook to contrive an apparatus which, folded to the 
hull of a boat like a bellows, might be inflated on occa- 
sion, and, by its levity, lift it over any obstruction upon 
which it might rest. On this contrivance, illustrated by a 
model whittled out by himself, and now preserved in the 
Patent Office at Washington, he secured letters patent; but 
it is certain that the navigation of the Western rivers was 
not revolutionized by it. 



A Remarkable Story—" Honest Abe " as Postmaster— How He 
Kept the Identical Money in Trust for Many Years. 

Mr. Lincoln was appointed Postmaster by President 
Jackson. The office was too insignificant to be considered 
politically, and it was given to the young man because 
everybody liked him, and because he was the only man will- 
ing to take it who could make out the returns. He was 
exceedingly pleased with the appointment, because it gave 
him a chance to read every newspaper that was taken in 
the vicinity. He had never been able to get half the news- 
papers he wanted before, and the office gave him the pros- 
pect of a constant feast. Not wishing to be tied to the 
office, as it yielded him no revenue that would reward him 
for the confinement, he made a Post-office of his hat. 
Whenever he went out, the letters were placed in his hat. 
When an anxious looker for a letter found the Postmaster, 
he had found his office; and the public officer, taking off' 
his hat, looked over his mail wherever the public might 
find him. He kept the office until it was discontinued, or- 
removed to Petersburg. 



EARLY LIFE. '33 

One of the rnosfc beautiful exhibitions of Mr. Lincoln's 
rigid honesty occurred in connection with the settlement of .. 
his accounts with the Post-office Department, several years t{ «S » 
afterwards. It was after he had become a lawyer, and had 2^H 
been a legislator. He had passed through a period of great 
poverty, had acquired his education in the law in the midst 
of many perplexities, inconveniences, and hardships, and 
had met with temptations, such as few men could resist, to 
make a temporary use of any money he might have in his 
handsr OheUay", seated in the law office of his partner, the 
agent of the Post-office Department entered, and inquired 
if Abraham Lincoln was within. Mr. Lincoln responded 
to his name, and was informed that the agent had called to £^ju^^ 
collect a balance due the Department since the discon- /—^/^ 
tinuance of the New Salem office. A shade of perplexity 
passed over Mr. Lincoln's face, which did not escape the 
notice of friends who were present. One of them said at 
once: "Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help 
you." He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled 
out from a pile of books a little old trunk, and, returning 
to the table, asked the agent how much the amount of his 
debt was. The sum was named, and then Mr. Lincoln 
opened the trunk, pulled out a little package of coin 
wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out the exact sum, 
amounting to something more than seventeen dollars. 
After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that 
he h^r used 'tm^nS^ money isJrffoTis own. Although 
this sum had been in his hands during all these years, he 
had never regarded it as available, even for any temporary 
purpose of his own. 
3 



34 LINCOLN STORIES. 

How Lincoln Piloted a Fiat-Boat Over a Mill-Dam. 

Governor Yates, of Illinois, in a speech at Springfield, 
quoted one of Mr. Lincoln's early friends — "W". T. Greene — 
as having said that the first time he ever saw Mr. Lincoln, 
he was in the Sangamon River with his trousers rolled up 
five feet, more or less, trying to pilot a flat-boat over a mill- 
dam. The boat was so full of water that it was hard to 
manage. Lincoln got the prow over, and then, instead of 
waiting to bail the water out, bored a hole through the 
projecting part and let it run out; affording a forcible illus- 
tration of the ready ingenuity of the future President in 
the quick invention of moral expedients. 



Splitting Rails and Studying Mathematics— Simmons, Lincoln & 

Company. 

In the year 1S55 or '56, George B. Lincoln, Esq., of 
Brooklyn, was traveling through the West in connection 
with a large New York dry-goods establishment. He 
found himself one night in a town on the Illinois River, by 
the name of Naples. The only tavern of the place had 
evidently been constructed with reference to business on a 
small scale. Poor as the prospect seemed, Mr. Lincoln 
had no alternative but to put up at the place. The supper- 
room was also used as a lodging-room. After supper and 
a comfortable hour before the fire, Mr. L. told his host 
that he thought he would " go to bed." " Bed ! " echoed 
the landlord ; 4 * there is no bed for you in this house, unless 
you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one we 
have to spare.'' ' b "Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, " the 
gentleman has possession, and perhaps would not like a 
bedfellow." Upon this, a grizzly head appeared out of the 
pillows, and said. " What is your name ? " " They call 



EARLY LIFE. 37 

me Lincoln at home,' 1 was the reply. " Lincoln ! " re- 
peated the stranger ; "any connection of our Illinois 
Abraham ? " « No," replied Mr. L., « I fear not." 
" Well," said the old man, "I will let any man by the 
name of 'Lincoln ' sleep with me,* just for the sake of the 
name. You have heard of Abe ? " he inquired. " Oh, 
yes, very often," replied Mr. Lincoln. " No man could 
travel far in this State without hearing of Mm, and I 
would be very glad to claim connection, if I could do so 
honestly." " Well," said the old gentleman, " my name 
is Simmons. ' Abe ' and I used to live and work together 
when we were young men. Many a job of wood-cutting 
and rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe Lin- 
coln," said he, with emphasis, " was the likeliest boy in 
God's world. He would work all day as hard as any of us 
— and study bv firelight in the log-house half the night ; 
and in this way he made himself a thorough practical 
surveyor. . Otice, during those days, I was in the upper 
part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom Presi- 
dent Jackson had sent to the Northwest to make surveys. 
I told him about Abe Lincoln, what a student he .was, and 
that I wanted he should give him a job. He looked over 
his memoranda, and, pulling out a paper, said: ' There is 

county must be surveyed ; if your friend can do the 

work properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it — 
the compensation will be six hundred dollars ! ' Pleased 
.as I could be, I hastened to Abe, after I got home, with 
an account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting 
before the fire in the log-cabin when I told him; and what 
do you think was his answer? When 1 finished, he looked 
up very quietly, and said, ' Mr. Simmons, I thank you very 
sincerely for your kindness, but I don't think I will under- 
take the job.' 'In the name of wonder," said I, -why I 
Six hundred dollars does not grow upon every bush out 



3S LINCOLN STORIES. 

herein Illinois.' 'I know that,' said Abe, 'and I need 
the money bad enough, Simmons, as you know; but I 
have never been under obligation to a Democratic admin- 
istration, and I never intend to be so long as I can get my 
living another way. General Ewing must find another 
man to do his work.' " 

Mr. Carpenter related this story to the President one 
day, and asked him if it was true. " Pollard Simmons ! " 
said Lincoln : " well do I remember him. It is correct 
abont our working togethe • but the old man must have 
stretched the facts somevhat about the survey of the 
county. I think I should have been very glad of the job 
at that time, no matter what administration was in power." 
Notwithstanding this, however, Mr. Carpenter was inclined 
to believe Mr. Simmons was not far out of the way and 
thought his statement seemed very characteristic of what 
Abraham Lincoln may be supposed to have been at twenty- 
three or twenty-five years of age. 



Captain Lincoln — How he Became Captain. 

h\ the threatening aspect of affairs at the time of the 
Black Hawk "W ,r, Governor Reynolds issued a call for 
volunteers, and :.mon: the companies that immediately 
responded was one from Menard County, Illinois. Many 
of the volunteers were from New Salem and Clary's 
Grove, and Lincoln being out of business, was the first to 
enlist. The company being full, they held a meeting at 
Richland for the election of officers. Lincoln had won 
many hearts, and they told him that he must be their cap- 
tain. It was an office that he did not aspire to, and one 
for which he felt that he had no special fitness; but he 
consented to be a candidate. There was but one other 
candidate for the office (a Mr. Kirkpatrick), and he was 



EARLY LIFE. 39 

one of the most influential men in the county. Previously, 
Kirkpatrick had been an employer of Lincoln, and was so 
overbearing in his treatment of the young man that the 
latter left him. 

The simple mode of electing their captain, adopted by 
the company, was by placing the candidates apart, and 
telling the men to go and stand with the one they pre- 
ferred. Lincoln and his competitor took their positions, 
and then the word was given. At least three out of every 
four went to Lincoln at once. When it was seen by those 
who had ranged themselves with the other candidate that 
Lincoln w T as the choice of the majority of the company, 
they left their places, one by one, and came over to the 
successful side, until Lincoln's opponent in the friendly 
strife was left standing almost alone. " I felt badly to see 
him cut so," says a witness of the scene. Here was an 
opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his em- 
ployer's captain, but the opportunity was. never improved. 
Mr. Lincoln frequently confessed that no subsequent suc- 
cess of his life had given him half the satisfaction that this 
election did. He had achieved public recognition ; and to 
one so humbly bred, the distinction was inexpressibly 
delightful. 



A Humorous Speech — Lincoln in the Black Hawk War. 

The friends of General Cass, when that gentleman was a 
candidate for the presidency, endeavored to endow him with 
a military reputation. Mr. Lincoln, at that time a repre- 
sentative in Congress, delivered a speech before the House, 
which, in its allusions to General Cass, was exquisitely sar- 
castic and irresistiby humorous : 

"By the way, Mr. Speaker," said Mr. Lincoln, "do 
you know I am a military hero % Yes, "sir, in the days 



40 LINCOLN STORIES. 

of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled and came away. 
Speaking of General Cass' career reminds me of my own. 
I was not at Stillman's Defeat, but I was about as near it 
as Cass to Hull's surrender ; and like him I saw the 
place very soon afterward. It is quite certain I did not 
break my sword, for I had none to break; but I bent my 
musket pretty badly- on one occasion. * * * * * If 
General Cass went in advance of me in picking whortle- 
berries, I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild 
onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more 
than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles with 
the muscjuitoes; and although I never fainted from loss of 
blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry." Mr. Lin- 
coln concluded by saying 'if he ever turned democrat and 
should run for the Presidency, lie hoped they would not 
make fun of him by attempting to make him a military 
hero ! 



Lincoln's First Political Speech. 

Mr. Lincoln made his first political speech in 1&22, at 
the age of twenty-three, when he was a candidate for the 
Illinois Legislature. His opponent had wearied the audi- 
ence by a long speech, leaving him but a short time in 
which to present his vievv>. He condensed all he had to 
say into a few words, as follows : 

" Gentlemen, Fellow-citizens : I presume you know who 
1 am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been 
solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the 
legislature. My politics can be briefly stated. I am in 
favor of the internal improvement system, and a high 
protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political 
principles. If elected, I shall be thankful. If not, it 
will be all the same." 



EARLF LIFE. 41 

Sleeted to the Legislature — Lincoln Walks to the State Capitol, 
Distant 100 Miles ! 

In 1834, Lincoln was a candidate for the legislature, and 
was elected by the highest vote cast for any candidate. 
Major John T. Stuart, an officer in the Black Hawk War. 
and whose acquaintance Lincoln made at Beardstown, was 
also elected. Major Stuart had already conceived the 
highest opinion of the young man, and seeing much of 
him during the canvass for the election, privately advised 
him to study law. Stuart was himself engaged in a large 
and lucrative legal practice at Springfield.* Lincoln said 
he was poor — that he had no money to buy books, or to live 
where books might be borrowed and used. Major Stuart 
offered to lend him all he needed, and he decided to take 
the kind lawyer's advice, and accept his offer. At the close 
of the canvass which resulted in his election, he walked to 
Springfield, borrowed " a load " of books of Stuart, and 
took them home with hi in to New Salem. Here he began 
the study of law in good earnest, though with no preceptor. 
He studied while he had bread, and then started out on a 
surveying tour, to win the money that would buy more. 
One who remembers his habits during this period says 
that he went, day after day, for weeks, and sat under an 
oak tree on a hill near New Salem and read, moving 
around to keep in the shade, as the sun moved. He was 
so much absorbed that some people thought and said that 
he was crazy. Not un frequently he met and passed his 
best friends without noticing them. The truth was that 
he had found the pursuit of his life, and had become very 
much in earnest. 

During Lincoln's campaign, he possessed and rode a 
horse, to procure which he had quite likely sold his com- 
pass and chain, for, as soon as the canvass had closed, he 



42 LINCOLN STORIES. 

sold the horse, and bought these instruments indispensable 
to him in the only pursuit by which he could make his 
living. When the time for the assembling of the legisla- 
ture approached, Lincoln dropped his law books, shouldered 
his pack, and, on foot, trudged to Vandalia, then the capital 
of the State, about a hundred miles, to make his entrance 
into public life. 



" The Long Nine" — Lincoln the Longest of All. 

The Sangamon County delegation to the Illinois Legisla- 
ture, in 1S34:, of which Lincoln was a member, consisting 
of nine representatives, was so remarkable for the physical 
altitude of its members that they were known as " The 
Long Nine." Not a member of the number was less than 
six feet high, and Lincoln was the tallest of the nine, as he 
was the leading man intellectually, in and out of the House. 
Among those who composed the House, were General John 
A. McClernand, afterwards a member of Congress; Jesse 
K. Dubois, afterwards Auditor of the State; James Semple, 
afterwards twice the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives, and subsequently United States Senator; Robert 
Smith, afterwards member of Congress; John Hogan, 
afterwards a member of Congress from St. Louis; General 
James Shields, afterwards United States Senator (who 
died recently); John Dement, who has since been 
Treasurer of the State; Stephen A. Douglas, whose 
subsequent public career is familiar to all; Newton Cloud, 
President of the Convention which framed the present State 
Constitution of Illinois; John J. Hardin, who fell at Buena 
Yista; John Moore, afterwards Lieutenant Governor of the 
State; William A. Richardson, subsequently United States 
Senator, and William Mc'Murtry, who has since been Lieu- 
tenant Governor of the State. This list does not embrace 



EARLY LIFE. 4$ 

all who had then, or who have since been distinguished, but 
it is large enough to show that Lincoln was, during the 
term of this legislature, thrown into association, and often 
into antagonism, with the brightest men of the new state. 



Returning from the Legislature—" No Wonder Lincoln was Cold" — 
A Joke on Lincoln's Big Feet. 

He had walked his hundred miles to Yandalia, in 1836, 
as he did in 183i, and when the .session closed he walked 
home again. A gentleman in Menard .County remembers 
meeting him and a detachment of " The Long Nine" on 
their way home. They were all mounted except Lincoln,, 
who had thus far kept up with them on foot. If he had 
money he was hoarding it for more important purposes 
than that of saving leg- weariness and leather. The weather 
was raw, and Lincoln's clothing were none of the warmest. 
Complaining of being cold to one of his companions, this 
irreverent member of " The Long Nine " told his future 
President that it was no wonder he was cold — " there was 
so much of him on the ground." None of the party appre- 
ciated this homely joke at the expense of his feet (they were 
doubtless able to bear it) more thoroughly than Lincoln 
himself. We can imagine the cross-fires of wit and humor 
by which the way was enlivened during this cold and tedious 
journey. The scene was certainly a rude one, and seems 
more like a dream than a reality, when we remember that 
it occurred- not very many years ago, in a state which now 
contains hardly less than three millions of people and 
seven thousand six hundred miles of railway. 



44 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln's Marriage — Boarding at $4 per Week — Some Very Interest- 
ing Letters — A Peep into Lincoln's Social Life. 

In 1842, in his thirty-third year, Mr. Lincoln married 
Miss Mary Todd, a daughter of Hon. Robert S. Todd, of 
Lexington, Kentucky. The marriage took place in Spring- 
field, where the lady had for several years resided, on the 
fourth of November of the year mentioned. It is probable 
that he married as early as the circumstances of his life per- 
mitted, for he had alwa\ r s loved the society of women, and 
possessed a nature that took profound delight in intimate 
female companionship. A letter written on the eighteenth 
of May following his marriage, to J. F. Speed, Esq., of 
Louisville, Kentucky, an early and a life-long personal friend, 
gives a pleasant glimpse of his domestic arrangements at 
this time. " We are not keeping house," Mr. Lincoln says 
in this letter, " but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which is 
very well kept now by a widow lady of the name of Beck. 
Our rooms are the same Dr. Wallace occupied there, and 
boarding only costs four dollars a week. * * - I most 
heartily wish you and your Fanny will not fail to come. 
Just let us know the time, a week in advance, and we will 
have a room prepared for you, and we'll all be merry together 
for awhile.'' He seems to have been in excellent spirits, and 
to have been very hearty in the enjoyment of his new rela- 
tion. The private letters of Mr. Lincoln were charmingly 
natural and sincere. His personal friendships were the 
sweetest sources of his happiness. 

To a particular friend, he wrote February 25, 1S-A2: 

"Yours of the sixteenth, announcing that Miss and 

you 'are no longer twain, but one flesh.' reached me this 
morning. I have no way of telling you how much happi- 
ness I wish you both, though I believe you both can con- 
ceive it. I feel somewhat jealous of both of you now, for 



EARLY LIFE. 45 

you will be so exclusively concerned for one another that I 
shall be forgotten entirely. My acquaintance with Miss 

(1 call her thus lest you should think I am speaking 

of your mother,) was too short for me to reasonably hope 
to long be remembered by her; and still I am sure 1 shall 
not forget her soon. Try if you can not remind her of that 
debt she owes me, and be sure you do not interfere to pre- 
vent her paying it. 

" I regret to learn that you have resolved not to return to 
Illinois. I shall be very lonesome without you. How mis- 
erably things seem to be arranged in this world! If we 
have no friends we have no pleasure; and we have them, 
we are sure to lose them, and be doubly, pained by the loss. 
I did hope she and you would make your home here, yet I 
own 1 have no right to insist. You owe obligations to her 
ten thousand times more sacred than any you can owe to 
others, and in that light let them be respected and observed. 
It is natural that she should desire to remain with her rela- 
tions and friends. As to friends, she could not need them 
anywhere — she would have them in abundance here. Give 

my kind regards to Mr. and his family, particularly to 

Miss E. Also to your mother, brothers and sisters. Ask 

little E. D if she will ride to town with me if I come 

there again. And, finally, give a double reciprocation 

of all the love she sent me. "Write me often, and believe 
me, yours forever, Lincoln. 



Lincoln's Mother— How He Loved Her. 

" A great man," says J. G. Holland, " never drew his 
infant life from a purer or more womanly bosom than her 
own; and Mr. Lincoln always looked back to her with an 
unspeakable affection. Long after her sensitive heart and 
weary hands had crumbled into dust, and had climbed to 



46 LINCOLN STORIES. 

life again in forest flowers, he said to a friend, with tears in 
his eyes: 'All that I am, or hope to he, I owe to my angel 
mother — blessings on her memory!' " She was five feet, 
five inches high, a slender, pale, sad and sensitive woman, 
with much in her nature that was truly heroic, and much 
that shrank from the rude life around her. Her death 
occurred in 1818, scarcely . two ye ars after her removal from 
Kentucky to Indiana, and when Abraham was in his tenth 
year . They laid her to rest under the trees near their 
cabin home, and, sitting on her grave, the little boy wept 
his irreparable loss. 



Oen. Linder's Early Recollections of Lincoln — Some Amusing 
Stories of Lincoln's Uncle Mord. 

I did not travel, says General Linder, on the circuit in 
1835, on account of my health and the health of my wife, 
but attended court at Charleston that Fall, held by Judge 
Grant, who had exchanged circuits with our judge, Justin 
Harlan. It was here I first met Abraham Lincoln, of 
Springfield, at that time a very modest and retiring man, 
dressed in a plain suit of mixed jeans. He did not make 
any marked impression upon me, or any other member of 
the bar. He was on a visit to his relations in Coles, where 
his father and stepmother lived, and some of her children. 
Lincoln put up at the hotel, and here was where I saw him. 
Whether he was reading law at this time I can not say. 
Certain it is, he had not been admitted to the bar, although 
he had some celebrity, having been a captain in the Black- 
Hawk campaign, and served a term in the Illinois Legisla- 
ture; but if he won any fame at that season I have never 
heard of it. He had been one of the representatives from 
Sangamon. If Lincoln at this time felt the divine afflatus 
of greatness stir within him I have never heard of it. It 



EARLY LIFE. ' 47 

was rather common among us then in the West to suppose 
that there was no Presidential timber growing in the North- 
west, yet, he doubtless had at that time the stuff out of which 
to make half a dozen Presidents. 

I had known his relatives in Kentucky, and he asked me 
about them. His uncle, Mordecai Lincoln, I had known 
form my boyhood, and he was naturally a man of consider- 
able genius; he was a man of great drollery, and it would 
almost make you laugh to look at him. I never saw but 
one other man whose quiet, droll look excited in me the 
same disposition to laugh, and that was Artemas Ward. He 
was quite a story-teller, and in this Abe resembled his Uncle 
Mord. as we all called him. He was an honest man, as 
tender-hearted as a woman, and to the last degree charit- 
able and benevolent. 

No one ever took offense at Uncle Mord's stories — not 
even the ladies. I heard him once tell a bevy of fashion- 
able girls that he knew a very large woman who had a hus- 
band so small that in the night she often mistook him for 
the baby, and that upon one occasion she took him up and 
was singing to him a soothing lullaby, when he awoke and 
told her that she was mistaken, that the baby was on the 
other side of the bed. 

Lincoln had a very high opinion of his uncle, and on one 
occasion he said to me: " Linder, I have often said that 
Uncle Mord had run off with the talents of the family." 

Old Mord, as we sometimes called him, had been in his 
younger days a very stout man, and was quite fond of play- 
ing a game of fisticuffs with any one who was noted as a 
champion. He told a parcel of us once of a pitched battle 
he had fought with one of the champions of that day. He 
said they fought on the side of a hill or ridge; that at the 
bottom there was a rut or canal, which had been cut out by 
the freshets. He said they soon clinched, and he threw his 



48 LINCOLN STORIES. 

man and fell on top of him. He said he always thought he 
had the best eyes in the world for measuring distances, and 
having measured the distance to the bottom of the hill, he 
concluded that by rolling over and over till they came to 
the bottom his antagonist's body would fill it, and he would 
be wedged in so tight that he could whip him at his leisure. 
So he let the fellow turn him, and over and over they went, 
when about the twentieth revolution brought Uncle Mord*s 
back in contact with the bottom of the rut, "and," said he, 
"' before fire could scorch a feather, I cried out in stentorian 
voice: ' Take him off!' " 



Young Lincoln and the " Clary's Grove Boys "—A Wrestling Match 
and How it Terminated. 

There lived at the time young Lincoln resided at New 
Salem, Illinois, in and around the village, a band of rollick- 
ing fellows, or, more properly, roystering rowdies, known 
as the " Clary's Grove Boys." The special tie that united 
them was physical courage and prowess. These fellows, 
although they embraced in their number many men who 
have since become respectable and influential, were wild 
and rough bej'ond toleration in any community not made 
up like that which produced them. They pretended to be 
" regulators," and were the terror of all who did not ac- 
knowledge their rule; and their mode of securing allegiance 
was by flogging every man who failed to acknowledge it. 
They took it upon themselves to try the mettle of every 
new comer, and to learn the sort of stuff he was made of. 
Some of their number was appointed to fight, wrestle, or 
run a foot-race w r ith each incoming stranger. Of course 
Abraham Lincoln was obliged to pass the ordeal. 

Perceiving that he was a man who would not easily be 
floored, they selected their champion, Jack Armstrong, and 



EARLY LIFE. 49 

imposed upon him the task of laying Lincoln upon his back. 
There is no evidence that Lincoln was an unwilling party 
in the sport, for it was what he had always been accus- 
tomed to. The bout was entered upon, but Armstrong 
soon discovered that he had met with more than his match. 
The " Boys " were looking on, and, seeing that their cham- 
pion was likely to get the worst of it, did after the manner 
of such irresponsible bands. They gathered around Lin- 
coln, struck and disabled him, and theji Armstrong, by 
"legging" him, got him down. 

Most men would have been indignant, not to say furi- 
ously angry, under such foul treatment as this; but if Lin- 
coln was either, he did not show it. Getting up in perfect 
good humor, he fell to laughing over his discomfiture, and 
joking about it. They had all calculated upon making him 
angry, and then they intended, with the amiable spirit which 
characterized the " Clary's Grove Boys," to give him a 
terrible drubbing. They were disappointed, and, in their 
admiration of him, immediately invited him to become 
one of the company. 



A Batch of Lincoln Reminiscences — The Turning Point in the 
Great Man's Life. 

it was while young Lincoln was engaged in the duties of 
OfFutt's store that the turning point in his life occurred 
Here he commenced the study of English grammar. 
There was not a text-book to be obtained in the neighbor- 
hood, but, hearing that there was a copy of Kirkham's 
Grammar in the possession of a person seven or eight miles 
distant, he walked to his house and succeeded in borrowing it. 

L. M. Green, a lawyer of Petersburg, in Menard County, 
says that every time he visited Xew Salem, at this period, 
Lincoln took him out upon a hill, and asked him to explain 



50 LINCOLN STORIES. 

some point' in Kirkkam that had given him trouble. After 
having mastered the book, he remarked to a friend, that if 
that was what they called a science, he thought he could 
"subdue another.'''' 

Mr. Green says that Mr. Lincoln's talk at this time 
showed that he was beginning to think of a great life and 
a great destiny. Lincoln said to him, on one occasion, that 
all his family seemed to have good sense, but, somehow, 
none had ever become distinguished. He thought that 
perhaps he might become so. He had talked, he said, with 
men who had the reputation of being great men, but he 
could not see that they differed much from others! 

During this year, he was also much engaged with de- 
bating clubs, often walking six or seven miles to attend 
them. One of these clubs held its meetings at an old store- 
house in New Salem, and the first speech young Lincoln 
ever made was made there. He used to call the exercise 
"practicing polemics." As these clubs were composed 
principally of men of no education whatever, some of their 
" polemics " are remembered as the most laughable of farces. 

His favorite newspaper, at th!.; time, was the Louisville 
Journal, a paper v.'hich he received regularly by mail, and 
paid for during a number of yearc when he had not money 
enough to dress decently. He liked its politics, and was 
particularly delighted with its wit and humor, of which he 
had the keenest appreciation* When ^ut of the store, he 
was always busy in the pursuit of kn<" ~--ge. 

One gentleman who met him during this period, says 
that the first time he saw him he was lying on a trundle- 
bed, covered with books and papers, and rocking a cradle 
with his foot. The whole scene, however, was entirely char- 
acteristic — Lincoln reading and studying, and at the Same 
time helping his landlady by cpuieting her child. 



EARLY LIFE. 51 

" My early history," said Mr. Lincoln to J. L. Scripps, 
iC is perfectly characterized by a single line of Gray's 

Elegy: 

' The short and simple annals of the poor. 1 " 

A gentleman who knew Mr. Lincoln well in early man- 
hood says: " Lincoln at this period had nothing but plenty 
of friends" 

Says J. G. Holland: "No man ever lived, probably, 
who was more a self-made man than Abraham Lincoln. 
Not a circumstance of life favored the development which 
he had reached." 

In his seventh year Lincoln attended his first school. 
Zackaria Biney, a Catholic, whose memory Lincoln always 
revered, was the teacher. Caleb Hazel was the second 
teacher, under whose instructions Lincoln learned to write 
a good legible hand in three months. 

After the customary hand-shaking, on one occasion at 
"Washington, several gentlemen came forward and asked 
the President for his autograph. One of them gave his 
name as " Cruikshank." " That reminds me," said Mr. 
Lincoln, " of what I used to be called when a young man — 
* Long -shanks P " 

Mr. Holland says: " Lincoln was a religious man. The 
fact may be stated without any reservation — with only an 
explanation. He believed in God, and in His personal 
supervision of the affairs of men. He believed himself to 
be under His control and guidance. He believed in the 
power and ultimate triumph of the right, through his belief 
in God." 

Governor Yates, in a speech at Springfield, before a 
meeting at which "William G. Greene presided, quoted Mr. 
Greene as having said that the first time he ever saw Lin- 
coln he was " in the Sangamon River, with his trousers 



52 LINCOLN STORIES. 

rolled up five feet more or less, trying to pilot a flat-boat- 
over a mill-dam. The boat was so full of water that it was 
hard to manage. Lincoln got the prow over, and then, in- 
stead of waiting to bail the water out, bored a hole through 
the projecting part, and let it run out." 

A prominent writer says: " Lincoln was a child-like 
man. Is o public man of modern days has been fortunate 
enough to carry into his manhood so much of the direct- 
ness, truthfulness, and simplicity of childhood as distin- 
guished him. He icas exactly what he seemed. 

Mr. Lincoln and Douglas met for the first time when 
the latter was only 23 years of age. Lincoln, in speaking 
of the fact, subsequently said that Douglas was then " the 
least man he ever saw." He was not only very short, but 
very slender. 

Lincoln's mother died in 1818, scarcely two years after 
her removal to Indiana from Kentucky, and when Abraham 
was in his tenth year. They laid her to rest under the trees 
near the cabin, and, sitting on her grave, the little boy wept 
his irreparable loss. 

The Black Hawk war was not a very remarkable affair. 
It made no military reputations, but it was noteworthy in 
the single fact that the two simplest, homliest and truest 
men engaged in it afterward became Presidents of the 
United States, viz : General (then Colonel) Zachary Taylor, 
and Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln never spoke of it as 
anything more than an interesting episode in his life, except 
upon one occasion when he used it as an instrument for 
turning the military pretensions of another into ridicule. 




STATE CAPITOL AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 55 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE STORIES. 



How Lincoln and Judge B Swapped Horses. 

When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in Illinois, he and 
a certain Judge once got, to bantering one another about 
trading horses; and it was agreed that the next morning at 
9 o'clock they should make a trade, the horses to be unseen 
up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture 
of $25. 

At the hour appointed the Judge came up, leading the 
sorriest-looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those 
parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approach- 
ing with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders. Great 
were the shouts and the laughter of the crowd, and both 
were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, on surveying the 
Judge's animal, set down his saw-horse, and exclaimed: 
"Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of 
it in a horse trade." 



A Remarkable Law Suit About a Colt — How Lincoln Won the 

Case — Thirty-Four Men Against Thirty Men 

and Two Brutes. 

The controversy was about a colt, in which thirty-four 
witnesses swore that they had known the colt from its fall- 
ing, and that it was the property of the plaintiff, while 
thirty swore that they had known the colt from its falling, 
and that it was the property of the defendant. It may be 
stared, at starting, that these witnesses were all honest, and 
that the mistake grew out of the exact resemblances which 
two colts bore to each other. 



56 LINCOLN STORIES. 

One circumstance was proven by all the witnesses, or 
nearly all of them, viz.: that the two claimants of the colt 
agreed to meet on a certain clay with the two mares which 
were respectively claimed to be the dams of the colt, and 
permit the colt to decide which of the two he belonged to. 
The meeting occurred according to agreement, and, as it 
was a singular case and excited a good deal of popular in- 
terest, there were probably a hundred men assembled on 
their horses and mares, from far and near. 

Now, the colt really belonged to the defendant in the 
case. It had strayed away and fallen into company with 
the plaintiff's horses. The plaintiff's colt had, at the same 
time, strayed away, and had not returned, and was not to 
be found. The moment the two mares were brought upon 
the ground, the defendant's mare and the colt gave signs of 
recognition. The colt went to its dam, and would not 
leave her. They fondled each other ; and, although the 
plaintiff brought his in are between them, and tried in 
various wa. to divert the colt's attention, the colt would 
not be separated from its dam. It then followed her home, 
a distance of eight or ten miles, and, when within a mile or 
two of the stables, took a short cut to them in advance of 
its dam. The plaintiff had sued to recover the colt thus 
gone back to its owner. 

In the presentation of this case to the jury, there were 
thirty-four witnesses on the side of the plaintiff, while the 
defendant had, on his side, only thirty witnesses; but he 
had on his side the colt itself and its dam— thirty- four men 
against thirty men and two brutes. Here was a case that 
was to be decided by the preponderance of evidence. All 
the witnesses were equally positive, and equally credible. 
Mr. Lincoln was on the side of the defendant, and con- 
tended that the voice of nature in the mare and colt ought 
to outweigh the testimony of a hundred men. The jury 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 57 

were all farmers, and all illiterate men, and he took great 
pains to make them understand what was meant by the 
'" preponderance of evidence." He said that in a civil 
suit, absolute certainty, or such certainty as would be re- 
quired to convict a man of crime, was not essential. They 
must decide the case according to the impression which the 
evidence had produced upon their minds, and, if they felt 
puzzled at all, he would give them a test by which they 
could bring themselves to a just conclusion. " Now," said 
he, "if you were going to bet on this case, on which side 
would you be willing to risk a picayune? That side on 
which you would be willing to bet a picayune, is the side 
on which rests the preponderance of evidence in your 
minds. It is possible that you may not be right, but that 
is not the question. The question is as to where the pre- 
ponderance of evidence lies, and you can judge exactly 
where it lies in your minds, bv deciding as to which side 
you would be willing to bet on." 

The jury understood this. There was no mystification 
about it, /They had got hold of a test by which they could 
render an intelligent verdict. Mr. Lincoln saw into their 
minds, and knew exactly what they needed; and the 
moment they received it, he knew that his case was safe, 
as a quick verdict for the defendant proved it to be. In 
nothing connected with this case was the ingenuitv of Mr. 
Lincoln more evident, perhaps, than in the insignificance 
of the sum which he placed in risk by the hypothetical 
wager. It was not a hundred dollars, or a thousand dollars, 
or even a dollar, but the smallest silver coin, to show to 
them that the verdict should go with the preponderance of 
evidence, even if the preponderance should be only a hair's 
weight. 



58 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln's Story of a Young Lawyer as He Told it to General 

Garfield. 

General Garfield, of Ohio, received from the President 
the account of the capture of Norfolk with the following 
preface: " By the way, Garfield," said Mr. Lincoln, " you 
never heard, did yon, that Chase, Stanton, and I, had a 
campaign of our own? We went down to Fortress Monroe 
in Chase's revenue cutter, and consulted with Admiral 
Goldsborough as to the feasibility of taking Norfolk by 
landing on the north shore and making a march of eight 
miles. The Admiral said, very positively, there was no 
landing on that shore, and we should have to double the 
cape and approach the place from the south side, which 
would be a long and difficult journey. I thereupon asked 
him if he had ever tried to find a landing, and he replied 
that he had not. 

" ' Now,' said I, ' Admiral, that reminds me of a chap 
out West who had studied law, but had never tried a case. 
Being sued, and not having confidence in his ability to 
manage his own case, he employed a fellow- lawyer to man- 
age it for him. He had only a confused idea of the mean- 
ing of law terms, but was anxious to make a display of 
learning, and on the trial constantly made suggestions to 
his lawyer, who paid no attention to him. At last, fearing 
that his lawyer was not handling the opposing counsel very 
well, he lost all patience, and, springing to his feet, cried 
out: " Why don't you go at him with a capias, or a surre- 
hutter, or something, and not stand there like a confounded 
old nudum-pactum?" 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 59 

Lincoln and His Step-Mother — How He Bought Her a Farm. 

Soon after Mr. Lincoln entered upon his profession at 
Springfield, lie was engaged in a criminal case in which it. 
was thought there was little chance of success. Throwing 
all his powers into it he came off victorious, and promptly 
received for his services live hundred dollars. A legal 
friend calling upon him the next morning found him 
sitting before a table, upon which his money was spread 
out, counting it over and over. 

"Look here, Judge," said Lincoln; u See what a heap of 

money I've got from the case. Did you ever see 

anything like it ? Why, I never had so much money in 
my life before, put it all together ? " Then crossing his 
arms upon the table, his manner sobering down, he added, 
" I have got just five hundred dollars : if it were only seven 
hundred and fifty, I would go directly and purchase a 
quarter section of land, and settle it upon my old step- 
mother." 

His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed 
he would loan him the amount, taking his note, to which 
Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded. 

His friend then said : " Lincoln, I would not do just 
what you have indicated. Your step-mother is getting old,. 
and will not probably live many years. I wxmld settle the 
property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert 
to you upon her death." 

With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied: "I shall do no 
such thinor. It is a poor return, at the best, for all the good 
woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going 
to be any half-way business about it ;" and so saying, he- 
gathered up his money, and proceeded forthwith to carry 
his long-cherished purpose into execution. 



€0 LINCOLN STORIES. 

A Famous Story— How Lincoln was Presented with a Knife ! 

It is said that Mr. Lincoln was always ready to join in 
a laugh at the expense of his person, concerning which he 
was indifferent. Many of his friends will recognize the 
following story — the incident having actually occurred — 
which Lincoln always told with great glee : 

"In the days when I used to be ' on the circuit,' " said 
Lincoln, " I was accosted in the cars by a stranger, who 
said : 

" ' Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession 
vhich belongs to you.' 

" ' How is that ? ' I asked, considerably astonished. 

" The stranger took a jack-knife from his pocket. ' This 
knife,' said he, ' was placed in my hands some years ago, 
with the injunction that I was to keep it until I found a 
man uglier than myself. I have carried it from that time 
to this. Allow me now to say, sir, that I think you are 
fairly entitled to the property.' " 



An Amusing Story Concerning Thompson Campbell. 

Among the numerous visitors on one of the President's 
reception days, were a party of Congressmen, among whom 
was the Hon. Thomas Shannon, of California. Soon after 
the customary greeting, Mr. Shannon said : 

" Mr. President, I met an old friend of yours in Califor- 
nia last Summer, Thompson Campbell, who had a good deal 
to say of your Springfield life." 

"Ah!'' returned Mr. Lincoln, "I am glad to hear of 
liim. Campbell used to be a dry fellow," he continued. 
*' For a time he was Secretary of State. One day. during 
the legislative vacation, a meek, cadaverous-looking man, 
with a white neck-cloth, introduced himself to him at his 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 61 

office, and, stating that be had been informed that Mr. 
C. had the letting of the Assembly Chamber, said that he 
wished to secure it, if possible, for a course of lectures he 
desired to deliver in Springfield. 

" ' May I ask,' said the Secretary, ' what is to be the 
subject of your lectures ?' 

" ' Certainly,' was the reply, with a very solemn expres- 
sion of countenance. ' The course I wish to deliver, is on 
the Second Coming of our Lord.' 

" ' It is of no use,' said C. ' If you will take my advice, 
you will not waste your time in this city. It is my private 
opinion that if the Lord has been in Springfield once, He 
will not come the second tArae /' " 



The Lincoln-Shields Duel — How it Originated. 

The late Gen. Shields was Auditor of the State of Illi- 
nois in 1839. While he occupied this important office he 
was involved in an " affair of honor " with a Springfield 
lawyer — no less a personage than Abraham Lincoln. At 
this time u James Shields, Auditor," was the pride of the 
young Democracy, and was considered a dashing fellow by 
all, the ladies included. In the Summer of 1S42 the Spring- 
field Journal contained some letters from the " Lost Town- 
ships," by a contributor whose nom de plume was " Aunt 
Becca," which held up the gallant young Auditor as " a ball- 
room dandy, fioatin' about on the earth without heft or sub- 
stance, just like a lot of cat-fur where cats had been fightin'." 

These letters caused intense excitement in the town. 
Xobody knew or guessed their authorship. Shields swore 
it would be coffee and pistols for two if he should find out 
who had been lampooning him so unmercifully. Thereupon 
"Aunt Becca" wrote another letter, which made the fur- 
nace of his wrath seven times hotter than before, in which 



«82 LINCOLN STORIES. 

she made a very humble apology, and offered to let him 
squeeze her hand for satisfaction, adding: 

" If this should not answer, there is one thing more I 
would rather do than to get a lickin'. I have all along 
expected to die a widow; but, as Mr. Shields is rather good- 
looking than otherwise, I must say I don't care if we com- 
promise the matter by — really, Mr. Printer, I can't help 
blushin' — but I — must come out — I — but widowed modesty 
— well, if I must, I must — wouldn't he — maybe sorter let 
the old grudge drap if I was to consent to be — be — his wife? 
I know he is a fightin' man, and would rather fight than eat; 
but isn't marryin' better than fightin', though it does some- 
times run into it? And I don't think, upon the whole, I'd 
be sich a bad match, neither; I'm not over sixty, and am 
jest four feet three in my bare feet, and not much more 
round the girth; and for color, I wouldn't turn my back to 
nary a girl in the Lost Townships. But, after all, maybe 
I'm countin' my chickens before they're hatched, and 
dreamin' of matrimonial bliss when the only alternative 
reserved for me maybe a lickin'. Jeff tells me the way 
these fire-eaters do is to give the challenged party the choice 
of weapons, which, being the case, I tell you in confidence, 
I never fight with anything but broomsticks or hot water, 
or a shovelful of coals or some such thing; the former of 
which, being somewhat like a shillelah, may not be so very 
objectionable to him. I will give him a choice, however, 
in one thing, and that is whether, when we fight, I shall 
wear breeches or he petticoats, for I presume this change 
is sufficient to place us on an equality." 

Of course some one had to shoulder the responsibility of 
these letters after such a shot. The real author was none 
other than Miss Mary Todd, afterward the wife of Abraham 
Lincoln, to whom she was engaged, and who was in honor 
bound to assume, for belligerent purposes, the responsibih 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 63 

Sty of her sharp pen-thrusts. Mr. Lincoln accepted the 
situation. Not long after the two men, with their seconds, 
were on their way to the field of honor. But the affair 
was fixed up without any fighting, and thus ended in a 
fizzle the Lincoln-Shields duel of the Lost Townships. 



Lincoln's Story of Joe Wilson and His " Spotted Animals "—Slow 
Progress in Killing Cats. 

Although the friendly relations which existed between 
the President and Secretary Cameron were not interrupted 
"by the retirement of the latter from the War Office, so 
important a change in the Administration could not of 
course take place without the irrepressible "story" from 
Mr. Lincoln. Shortly after this event some gentlemen 
called upon ihe President, and expressing much satisfac- 
tion at the change, intimated that in their judgment the 
interests of the country required an entire reconstruction of 
the Cabinet. 

Mr. Lincoln heard them through, and then shaking his 
head dubiously, replied, with his peculiar smile: " Gentle- 
men, when I was a young man I used to know very well one 
Joe "Wilson, who built himself a log-cabin not far from where 
I lived. Joe was very fond of eggs and chickens, and he 
took a good deal of pains in fitting up a poultry shed. 
Having at length got together a choice lot of young fowls 
— of which he was very proud — he began to be much 
annoyed by the depredations of those little black and white 
spotted animals, which it is not necessary to name. One 
night Joe was awakened by an unusual cackling and fluttering 
among his chickens. Getting up, he crept out to see what 
was going on. 

" It was a moonlight night, and he soon caught sight of 
half a dozen of the little pests, which, with their dam, were 



64 LINCOLN STORIES. 

running in and out of the shadow of the shed. Very 
wrathy, Joe put a double charge into his old musket, and 
thought he would ' clean ' out the whole tribe at one shot. 
Somehow he only killed one, and the balance scampered off 
across the field. In telling the story, Joe would always 
pause here, and hold his nose. 

"'Why didn't you follow them up, and kill the rest?' 
inquired the neighbors. 

" ' Blast it,' said Joe, ' why, it was eleven weeks before I 
got over killin' one. If you want any more skirmishing in 
that line you can just do it yourselves!' " 



An Incident Related by One of Lincoln's Clients. 

It was not possible for Mr. Lincoln to regard his clients 
simply in the light of business. An unfortunate man was 
a subject of his sympathy, a Mr. Cogdal, who related the 
incident to Mr. Holland, met with a -financial wreck in 1843. 
He employed Mr. Lincoln as his lawyer, and at the close of 
the business, gave him a note to cover the regular lawyer's 
fees. He was soon afterwards blown up by an accidental 
discharge of powder, and lost his hand. Meeting Mr. Lin- 
coln some time after the accident, on the steps of the State 
House, the kind lawyer asked him how he was getting along. 

" Badly enough," replied Mr. Cogdal, " I am both broken 
up in business and crippled." Then he added, " I have been 
thinking about that note of yours." 

Mr. Lincoln, who had probably known all about Mr. 
Cogdal's troubles, and had prepared himself for the meet- 
ing, took out his pocket-book, and saying, with a laugh r 
" well, you needn't think any more about it,"* handed him 
the note. 

Mr. Cogdal protesting, Mr. Lincoln said, " if you had 
the money, I would not take it," and hurried away. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 65 

At this same date, he was frankly writing about his pov- 
erty to his friends, as a reason for not making them a visit, 
and probably found it no easy task to take care of his fam- 
ily, even when board at the Globe Tavern was " only four 
dollars a week." 



Lincoln's Valor — He Defends Col. Baker. 

On one occasion when Col. Baker was speaking in a 
court-house, which had been a store-house, and, on making 
some remarks that were offensive to certain political row- 
dies in the crowd, they cried : " Take him off the stand." 
Immediate confusion ensued, and there was an attempt to 
carry the demand into execution. Directly over the 
speaker's head was an old scuttle, at which it appeared Mr. 
Lincoln had been listening to the speech. In an instant, 
Mr. Lincoln's feet came through the scuttle, followed by 
his tall and sinewy frame, and he was standing by Colonel 
Baker's side. He raised his hand, and the assembly sub- 
sided immediately into silence. 

"Gentlemen," said Mr. Lincoln, "let us not disgrace 
the age and country in which we live. This is a land where 
freedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr. Baker has a right to 
speak, and ought to be permitted to do so. I am here to 
protect him, and no man shall take him from this stand if 
I can prevent it." 

The suddenness of his appearance, his perfect calmness 
and fairness, and the knowledge that he would do what he 
had promised to do, quieted all disturbance, and the speaker 
concluded his remarks without difficulty. 
5 



66 LINCOLN 8T0BIES. 

The Judge and the Drunken Coachman. 

Attorney -General Bates was once remonstrating with the 
President against the appointment to a judicial position of 
considerable importance of a western man, who, though 
on the " bench," was of indifferent reputation as a 
lawyer. 

'•Well now, Judge," returned Mr. Lincoln, "I think 

you are rather too hard on . Besides that, I must tell 

you, he did me a good turn long ago. When I took to the 
law, I was walking to court one morning, with some ten or 

twelve miles of bad road before me, when overtook 

me in his wagon. 

" ' Hallo, Lincoln ! ' said he ; ' going to the court-house? 
Come in and I will give you a seat.' 

" Well, I got in, and went on reading his papers. 

Presently the wagon struck a stump on one side of the 
road ; then it hopped off to the other. I looked out and 
saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his seat : 
so said I, ' Judge, I think your coachman has been taking 
a drop too much this morning.' 

" ' Well, I declare, Lincoln,' said he, ' I should not much 
wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half-a- 
dozen times since starting. So, putting his head out of 
the window, he shouted, ' Why you infernal scoundrel, 
you are drunk I ' 

" Upon which pulling up his horses and turning round 
with great gravity, the coachman said ' Be dad ! but that's 
the first rightful decision your honor has given for the 
last twelve months/' " 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 67 

Honest Abe and his Lady Client. 

About the time Mr. Lincoln began to be known as a suc- 
cessful lawyer, he was waited upon by a lady, who held a 
real-estate claim which she desired to have him prosecute, 
putting into his hands, with the necessary papers, a check 
for two hundred and fifty dollars, as a retaining fee. Mr. 
Lincoln said he would look the case over, and asked her to 
call again the next day. Upon presenting herself, Mr. 
Lincoln told her that he had gone through the papers very 
carefully, and he must tell her frankly that there was not a 
« p 6 g " t l iaU g her claim upon, and he could not con- 
scientiously advise her to bring an action. The lady was 
satisfied, and, thanking him, rose to go. 

"Wait," said Mr. Lincoln, fumbling in his vest pocket; 
" here is the check you left with me." 

"But, Mr. Lincoln," returned the lady, "I think you 
have earned that." 

" No, no," he responded, handing it back to her; "that 
would not be right. I can't take pay for doing my duty." 



Attention Shown to Relatives — Lincoln and " His Sisters and 
His Cousins and His Aunts." 

One of the most beautiful traits of Mr. Lincoln was his 
considerate regard for the poor and obscure relatives he had 
left, plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever 
upon his circuit he found them, he always went to their 
dwellings, ate with them, and, when convenient, made their 
houses his home. He never assumed in their presence the 
slightest superiority to them, in the facts and conditions of 
his life. He gave them money when they needed and he 
possessed it. Countless times he was known to leave his 
companions at the village hotel, after a hard day's work in 
the court room, and spend the evening with these old 



68 LINCOLN STORIES. 

friends and companions of his humbler days. On one 
occasion, when urged not to go, he replied, " Why, aunt's 
heart would be broken if I should leave town without call- 
ing upon her;" yet he was obliged to walk several miles to 
make the call. 



How Lincoln Kept His Business Accounts — His Remarkable 
Honesty. 

A little fact in Lincoln's "Work will illustrate his ever- 
present desire to deal honestly and justly with men. He 
had always a partner in his professional life, and, when he 
went out upon the circuit, this partner was usually at home. 
"While out, he frequently took up and disposed of cases that 
were never entered at the office. In these cases, after 
receiving his f^es, he divided the money in his pocket-book, 
labeling each sum (wrapped in a piece of paper), that 
belonged to his partner, stating his name, and the case on 
which it was received. He could not be content to keep 
an account. He divided the money, so that if he, by any 
casualty, should fail of an opportunity to pay it over, there 
could be no dispute as to the exact amount that was his 
partner's due. This may seem trivial, nay, boyish, but it 
was like Mr. Lincoln. 



Lincoln in Court. 

Senator McDonald states that he saw a jury trial in 
Illinois, at which Lincoln defended an old man charged 
with assault and battery. No blood had been spilled, but 
there was malice in the prosecution, and the chief witness 
was eager to make the most of it. On cross-examination, 
Lincoln gave him rope and drew him out; asked him how 
long the fight lasted, and how much ground it covered. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 69 

The witness thought the fight must have lasted half an 
hour, and covered an acre of ground. Lincoln called his 
attention to the fact that nobody was hurt, and then, with 
an inimitable air, asked him if he didn't think it was " a 
mighty small crop for an acre of ground." The jury 
rejected the case with contempt as beneath the dignity of 
twelve brave, good men and true. 

In another cause the son of his old friend, who had em- 
ployed him and loaned him books, was charged with a 
murder committed in a riot at a camp-meeting. Lincoln 
volunteered for the defense. A witness swore that he saw 
the prisoner strike the fatal blow. It was night, but he 
swore that the full moon was shining clear, and he saw 
everything distinctly. The case seemed hopeless, but Lin- 
coln produced an almanac, and showed that at the hour 
there was no moon. Then he depicted the crime of per- 
jury with such eloquence that the false witness fled the 
Court House. One who heard the trial says: "It was 
near night when he concluded, saying: ' If justice was 
done, before the sun set it would shine upon his client a 
free man.' " 

The Court charged the jury; they retired, and presently 
returned a verdict — " Not guilty." The prisoner fell into 
his weeping mother's arms, and then turned to thank Mr. 
Lincoln, who, looking out at the sun, said: " It is not yet 
sundown, and you are free." 



One of Lincoln's "Hardest Hits." 

In Abbott's " History of, the Civil War," the following 
story is told as one of Lincoln's "hardest hits:" "I once 
knew," said Lincoln, "a sound churchman by the name of 
Brown, who was a member of a very sober and pious com- 
mittee having in charge the erection of a bridge over a 



70 LINCOLN STORIES. 

dangerous and rapid river. Several architects failed, and at 
last Brown said he had a friend named Jonee, who had 
built several bridges and undoubtedly could build that one. 
So Mr. Jones was called in. 

' ; ' Can you build this bridge?' inquired the committee. 

" ' Yes,' replied Jones, ' or any other. I could build a 
bridge to the infernal regions, if necessary !' 

The committee were shocked, and Brown felt called upon 
to defend his friend. ' I know Jones so well,' said he, ' and 
he is so honest a man and so good an architect, that if he 
states soberly and positively that he can build a bridge to — 

to , why, I believe it; but I feel bound to say that I 

have my doubts about the abutment on the infernal side/ 

" So,'' said Mr. Lincoln, ' ; when politicians told me that 
the northern and southern wings of the Democracy could 
be harmonized, why, I believed them, of course; but I 
always had my doubts about the ' abutment ' on the other 
side." 



An Incident Connected with Lincoln's Nomination — A Good 

Te mperance M an. $ (^ A^ t^Xu^A - W<7 V $ 6 

Immediately after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for Presi- 
dent at the Chicago Convention, a committee, of which 
Governor Morgan, of New York, was Chairman, visited 
him in Springfield, 111., where he was officially informed 
of his nomination. 

After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked 
to the company, that as an appropriate conclusion to an 
interview so important and interesting as that which had 
just transpired, he supposed good manners would require 
that he should treat the committee with something to 
drink ; and opening a door that led into a room in the 
rear, he called out " Mary ! Mary ! " A girl responded to 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 71 

the call, to whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a few words in an 
under-tone, and, closing the door, returned again to converse 
with his guests. In a few minutes the maiden entered, 
bearing a large waiter, containing several glass tumblers, 
and a large pitcher in the midst, and placed it upon the 
centre-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and gravely addressing 
the company, said : " Gentlemen, we must pledge our mu- 
tual healths in the most healthy beverage which God has 
given to man — it is the only beverage I have ever used or 
allowed in my family, and I can not conscientiously depart 
from it on the present occasion — it is pure Adam's ale from 
the spring ; " and, taking a tumbler, he touched it to his 
lips, and pledged them his highest respects in a cup of 
cold water. Of course, all his guests were constrained to 
admire his consistency, and to join in his example. 



Gen. Linder's Account of the Lincoln-Shields Duel— Why Lincoln 
Chose Broadswords as Weapons. 

AVhen the famous challenge was sent by General Shields 
to Mr. Lincoln, it was at once accepted, and by the advice 
of his especial friend and second, Dr. Merriman, he chose 
broadswords as the weapons with which to 'fight. Dr. 
Merriman being a splendid swordsman trained him in the 
use of that instrument, which made it almost certain that 
Shields would be killed or discomfited, for he was a small, 
short-armed man. while Lincoln was a tall, sinewy, long- 
armed man, and as stout as Hercules. 

They went to Alton, and were to fiijht on the neck of 
land between the Missouri and Mississippi Hi vers, near their 
confluence. John J. Hardin, hearing of the contemplated 
duel, determined to prevent it, and hastened to Alton, with 
all imaginable celerity, where he fell in with the belligerent 



72 LINCOLN STORIES. 

parties, and aided by some other friends of both Lincoln 
and Shields, succeeded in effecting a reconciliation. 

After this affair between Lincoln and Shields, I met Lin- 
coln at the Danville court, and in a walk we took together, 
seeing him make passes with a stick, such as are made in 
the broadsword exercise, I was induced to ask him why he 
had selected that weapon with which to fight Shields. He 
promptly answered in that sharp, ear-splitting voice of his: 

" To tell you the truth, Linder, I did not want to kill Shields, 
and felt sure I could disarm him, having had about a month 
to learn the broadsword exercise; and furthermore, I didn't 
want the darned fellow to kill me, which I rather think he 
would have done if we had selected pistols." 



Lincoln's Gratitude— He Volunteers to Defend the Son of an Old 
friend Indicted for Murder— How He Was Acquitted. 

Jack Armstrong, the leader of the " Clary Grove Boys," 
with whom Lincoln in early life had a scuffle which "Jack " 
agreed to call " a drawn battle," in consequence of his own 
foul play, afterwards became a life-long, warm friend of 
Mr. Lincoln. Later in life the rising lawyer would stop at 
Jack's cabin horjae, and here Mrs. Armstrong, a most 
womanly person, learned to respect Mr. Lincoln. There 
was no service to which she did not make her guest abund- 
antly welcome, and he never ceased to feel the tenderest 
gratitude for her kindness. 

At length her husband died, and she became dependent 
upon her sons. The oldest of these, while in attendance 
upon a camp-meeting, found himself involved in a melee, 
which resulted in the death of a young man, and young 
Armstrong was charged by one of his associates with strik- 
ing the fatal blow. He was arrested, examined, and im- 
prisoned to await his trial. The public mind was in a 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 73 

blaze of excitement, and interested parties fed the flame. 
Mr. Lincoln knew nothing of the merits of this case, that is 
certain. He only knew that his old friend Mrs. Armstrong 
was in sore trouble; and he sat down at once, and volun- 
teered by letter to defend her son. His first act was to 
procure the postponement and a change of the place of 
the trial. There was too much fever in the minds of the 
immediate public to permit of fair treatment. When the 
trial came on, the case looked very hopeless to all but Mr. 
Lincoln, who had assured himself that the young man was 
not guilty. The evidence on behalf of the state being all 
in, and looking like a solid and consistent mass of testi- 
mony against the prisoner, Mr. Lincoln undertook the task 
of analyzing and destroying it, which he did in a manner 
that surprised every one. The principal witness testified 
that " by the aid of the brightly shining moon, he saw the 
prisoner inflict the death blow with a slung shot." Mr. 
Lincoln proved by the almanac that there was no moon 
shining at the time. The mass of testimony against the 
prisoner melted away, until u not guilty" was the verdict 
of every man present in the crowded court-room. There 
is, of course, no record of the plea made on this occasion, 
but it is remembered as one in which Mr. Lincoln made 
an appeal to the sympathies of the jury, which quite sur- 
passed his usual efforts of the kind, and melted all to tears. 
The jury were out but half an hour, when they returned 
with their verdict of "not guilty." The widow fainted in 
the arms of her son, who divided his attention between his 
services to her and his thanks to his deliverer. And thus 
the kind woman who cared for the poor young man, and 
showed herself a mother to him in his need, received the 
life of a son, saved from a cruel conspiracy, as her reward, 
from the hand of her grateful beneficiary. 



74 LINCOLN STORIES. 

An Honest Lawyer — Some of Lincoln's "Oases" and How 
He Treated Them. 

A sheep-grower on a certain occasion sold a number of 
sheep at a stipulated average price. When he delivered 
the animals, he delivered many lambs, or sheep too young 
to come fairly within the terms of the contract. He was 
sued for damages by the injured party, and Mr. Lincoln 
was his attorney. At the trial, the facts as to the character 
of the sheep delivered were proved, and several witnesses 
testified as to the usuage by which all under a certain age 
were regarded as lambs, and of inferior value. Mr. Lincoln, 
on comprehending the facts, at once changed his line of 
effort, and confined himself to ascertaining the real number 
of inferior sheep delivered. On addressing the jury, he said 
that from the facts proved, they must give a verdict against 
his client, and he only asked their scrutiny as to the actual 
damage suffered. 

In another case, Mr. Lincoln was conducting a suit 
against a railroad company. Judgment having been given 
in his favor, and the court being about to allow the amount 
claimed by him, deducting a proved and allowed offset, he 
rose and stated that his opponents had not proved all that 
was justly due them in offset; and proceeded to state and 
allow a further sum against his client, which the court 
allowed in its judgment. His desire for the establishment 
of exact justice overcame his own selfish love of victoiw, 
as well as his partiality for his clients' feelings and interests. 



Lincoln's Pungent Retort. 
A little incident occurred during a political campaTgn 
that illustrated Mr. Lincoln's readiness in turning a polit- 
ical point. He was making a speech at Charleston, Coles 
County, Illinois, when a voice called out, " Mr. Lincoln, is 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 75 

it true that you entered this state barefoot, driving a yoke 
of oxen?" Mr. Lincoln paused for full half a minute, as if 
considering whether he should notice such cruel impertin- 
ence, and then said that he thought he could prove the fact 
by at least a dozen men in the crowd, any one of whom was 
more respectable than his questioner. But the question 
seemed to inspire him, and he went on to show what free 
institutions had done for himself, and to exhibit the evils 
of slavery to the white man wherever it existed, and asked 
if it was not natural that he should hate slavery and agitate 
against it. '■ Yes," said he, " we will speak for freedom 
and against slavery, as long as the Constitution of our 
country guarantees free speech, until everywhere on this 
wide land the sun shall shine, and the rain shall tall, and 
the wind shall blow upon no man who goes forth to unre- 
quited toil." 



A Revolutionary Pensioner Defended by Lincoln — An Interesting 

Incident. 

An old woman of seventy-five years, the widow of a rev- 
olutionary pensioner, came tottering into his law office one 
day, and, taking a seat, told him that a certain pension 
agent had charged her the exorbitant fee of two hundred 
dollars for collecting her claim. Mr. Lincoln was satisfied 
by her representations that she had been swindled, and find- • 
ing that she was not a resident of the town, and that she 
was poor, gave her money, and set about the work of pro- 
curing restitution. Re immediately entered suit against 
the agent to recover a portion of his ill-gotten money. 
The suit was entirely successful, and Mr. Lincoln's address 
to the jury before which the case was tried is remembered 
to have been peculiarly touching in its allusions to the 
poverty of the widow, and the patriotism of the husband 



76 LINCOLN STORIES. 

she had sacrificed to secure the nation's independence. He 
had the gratification of paying back to her a hundred dol- 
lars, and sending her home rejoicing. 



A Thrilling Story — Lincoln Threatens a Twenty Years' Agitation 

in Illinois. 

One afternoon an old negro woman came into the office 
of Lincoln & Herndon, in Springfield, and told the story 
of her trouble, to which both lawyers listened. It appeared 
that she and her offspring were born slaves in Kentucky, 
and that her owner, one Hinkle, had brought the whole 
family into Illinois, and given them their freedom. Her 
son had gone down the Mississippi as a waiter or deck 
hand, on a steamboat. Arriving at New Orleans, he had 
imprudently gone ashore, and had been snatched up by the 
police, in accordance with the law then in force concerning 
free negroes from other states, and thrown into confine- 
ment. Subsequently, he was brought out and tried. Of 
course he was fined, and, the boat having left, he was sold, 
or was in immediate danger of being sold, to pay his fine 
and the expenses. Mr. Lincoln was very much moved, and 
requested Mr. Herndon to go over to the State House, and 
inquire of Governor Bissell if there was not something lie 
could do to obtain possession of the negro. Mr. Herndon 
made the inquiry, and returned with the report that the 
Governor regretted to say that he had no legal or constitu- 
tional right to do anything in the premises. Mr. Lincoln 
rose to his feet in great excitement, and exclaimed, " By 
the Almighty, I'll have that negro back soon, or I'll have a 
twenty years' agitation in Illinois, until the Governor does 
have a legal and constitutional right to do something in the 
premises." He was saved from the latter alternative — at 
least in the direct form which he proposed. The lawyers 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 77 

gent money to a New Orleans correspondent — money of 
their own — who procured the negro, and returned him to 
his mother. 



Lincoln as a Story Teller — How he always Turned the Story to 
his advantage — A Practical Example. 

One of his modes of getting rid of troublesome friends, 
as well as troublesome enemies, was by telling a story. He 
began these tactics early in life, and he grew to be wonder- 
fully adept in them. If a man broached a subject which 
he did not wish to discuss, lie told a story which changed 
the direction of the conversation. If he was called upon 
to answer a question, he answered it by telling a story. 
He had a story for everything — something had occurred at 
some place where he used to live, that illustrated every pos- 
sible phase of every possible subject with which he might 
have connection. His faculty of finding or making a story 
to match every event in his history, and every event to 
which he bore any relation, was really marvelous. 

That he made, or adapted, some of his stories, there is 
no question. It is beyond belief that those which entered 
his mind left it no richer than they came. It is not to be 
supposed that he spent any time in elaborating them, but 
by some law of association every event that occurred sug-, 
gested some story, and, almost by an involuntary process, 
his mind harmonized their discordant points, and the story 
was pronounced " pat," because it was made so before it 
was uttered. Every truth, or combination of truths, 
seemed immediately to clothe itself in a form of life, where 
he kept it for reference. His mind was full of stories; and 
the great facts of his life and history on entering his mind 
seemed to take up their abode in these stories, and if the 
garment did not fit them it was so modified that it did. 



78 LINCOLN STORIES. 

A good instance of the execution which he sometimes 
effected with a story, occurred in the legislature. There 
was a troublesome member from "Wabash County, who 
gloried particularly in being a " strict constructionist." He 
found something " unconstitutional " in every measure that 
was brought forward for discussion. He was a member of 
the Judiciary Committee, and was very apt, after giving 
every measure a heavy pounding, to advocate its reference 
to this committee. ~No amount of sober argument could 
floor the member from "Wabash. At last he came to be 
considered a man to be silenced, and Mr. Lincoln was 
resorted to for an expedient by which this object might be 
accomplished. He soon afterwards honored the draft thus 
made upon him. 

A measure was brought forward in which Mr. Lincoln's 
constituents were interested, when the member from 
Wabash rose and discharged all his batteries upon its un-" 
constitutional points. Mr. Lincoln then took the floor, 
and, with the quizzical expression of features which he 
could assume at will, and a mirthful twinkle in his gray eyes, 
said : " Mr. Speaker, the attack of the member from "Wa- 
bash on the constitutionality of this measure, reminds me 
of an old friend of mine. He's a peculiar looking old fel- 
low, with shaggy, overhanging eyebrows, and a pair of 
spectacles under them. (Everybody turned to the member 
from Wabash, and recognized a personal description.) 
One morning just after the old man got up, he imagined, 
on looking out of his door, that he saw rather a lively squir- 
rel on a tree near his house. So he took down his rifle and 
fired at the squirrel, but the squirrel paid no attention to 
the shot. He loaded and fired again, and again, until, at 
the thirteenth shot, he set down his gun impatiently, and 
said to his boy, who was looking on: 

"'Boy, there's something wrong about this rifle.' 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 79 

".'Rifle's all right, I know 'tis,' responded the boy, 'but 
wliere's your squirrel?' 

" ' Don't you see him, humped up about half way up tne 
tree?' inquired the old man, peering over his spectacles, 
and getting mystified. 

'"No, I don't,' responded the boy; and then turning 
and looking into his father's face, he exclaimed, ' I see your 
squirrel! You 've been firing at a louse on your eyebrow! ' " 

The story needed neither application nor explanation. 
The House was in convulsions of laughter; for Mr. Lin- 
coln's skill in telling a story was not inferior to his appre- 
ciation of its points and his power of adapting them to the 
case in hand. It killed off the member from Wabash, who 
was very careful afterwards not to provoke aiiy allusion to 
his " eyebrows." 



Hon. Newton Bateman's Thrilling Story of Mr. Lincoln — The 

Great Man Looking to See How the Springfield Preachers 

Voted — His Surprise, and What Lincoln^Said 

About It. 

At the time of the Lincoln nomination, at Chicago, Mr. 
Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction 
for the State of Illinois, occupied a room adjoining and 
opening into the Executive Chamber at Springfield. Fre- 
quently this door was open during Mr. Lincoln's receptions, 
and throughout the seven months or more of his occupa- 
tion, he saw him nearly every day. Often when Mr. Lin- 
coln was tired, he closed the door against all intruders, and 
called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On 
onejof these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book contain- 
ing a careful canvass of the city of Springfield, in which 
he lived, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had 
declared it his intention to vote in the approaching election. 
Mr. Lincoln's friends had, doubtless at his wn request, 



80 LINCOLN STORIES. 

placed the result of the canvass in his hands. This was 
towards the close of October, and only a few days before 
election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat by his side, hav- 
ing previously locked all the doors, he said : ' Let us look 
over this book; I wish particularly to see how the ministers 
of Springfield are going to vote.' The leaves were turned, 
one by one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln 
frequently asked if this one and that were not a minister, 
or an elder, or a member of such or such church, and sadly 
expressed his surprise on receiving an affirmative answer. 
In that manner they went through the book, and then he 
closed it and sat silently for some minutes regarding a 
memorandum in pencil which lay before him. At length 
he turned to Mr. Bateman, with a face full of sadness, and 
said : ' Here are twenty-three ministers, of different 
denominations, and all of them are against me but three, 
and here are a great many prominent members of the 
churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bate- 
man, I am not a Christian, — God knows I would be one, — 
but I have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so under- 
stand this book; ' and he drew forth a pocket New Testa- 
ment. ' These men well know,' he continued, ' that I am 
for freedom in the Territories, freedom everywhere as free 
as the Constitution and the laws will permit, and that my 
opponents are for slavery. They hioio this, and yet, with 
this book in their hands, in the light of which human bond- 
age can not live a moment, they are going to vote against 
me; I do not understand it at all.' 

" Here Mr. Lincoln paused — paused for long minutes — 
his features surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and 
walked up and down the reception-room in the effort to 
retain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at last, he 
said, with a trembling voice and cheeks wet with tears: ' I 
know there is a God, and that he hates injustice and 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 81 

slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand 
is in it. If He has a place and work for me, and I think 
He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but Truth is 
everything. I know I am right, because I know that 
liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I 
have told them that a house divided against itself can not 
stand; and Christ and Reason say the same; and they will 
find it so.' 

"'Douglas don't care whether slavery is voted up or 
down, but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and 
with God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the end; 
but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; and these men 
will find that they have not read their Bible right.' 

" Much of this was uttered as if he was speaking to him- 
self, and with a sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossi. 
ble to be described. After a pause, he resumed: ' Doesn't it 
appear strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of 
this contest? A revelation could not make it plainer to 
me that slavery or the Government must be destroyed. 
The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but 
for this rock on which I stand,' (alluding to the Testament 
which he still held in his hand,) ' especially with the knowl- 
edge of how these ministers are going to vote. It seems 
as if God had borne with this thing (slavery) until the very 
teachers of religion had come to defend it from the Bible, 
and to claim for it a divine character and sanction ; and 
now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will 
be poured out.' After this the conversation was continued 
for a long time. Everything he said was of a peculiarly 
deep, tender, and religious tone, and all was tinged with a 
touching melancholy. He repeatedly referred to his con- 
viction that the day of wrath was at hand, and that he was 
to be an actor in the terrible struggle which would issue in the 
overthrow of slavery, though he might not live to see the end. 
6 



82 LINCOLN STORIES. 

"After further reference to a belief in Divine Providence, 
and the fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon 
prayer. He freely stated his belief in the duty, privilege, 
and efficacy of prayer, and intimated, in no unmistakable 
terms, that he had sought in that way the Divine guidance- 
and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the mind 
of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln 
profoundly respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln 
had, in his quiet way, found a path to the Christian stand- 
point — that he had found God, and rested on the eternal 
truth of God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr. 
Bateman remarked : ' I have not supposed that you were 
accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects ; 
certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the senti- 
ments you have expressed to me.' He replied quickly : ' I 
know they are, but I think more on these subjects than 
upon all others, and I have done so for years; and I am 
willing you should know it.' " 



When his clients had practiced gross deception upon him, 
Mr. Lincoln forsook their cases in mid-passage; and he al- 
ways refused to accept fees of those whom he advised not 
to prosecute. On one occasion, while engaged upon an 
important case, he discovered that he was on the wrong 
side. His associate in the case was immediately informed 
that he (Lincoln) would not make the plea. The associate 
made it, and the case, much to the surprise of Lincoln, was 
decided for his client. Perfectly convinced that his client 
was wrong, he would not receive one cent of the fee of 
nine hundred dollars which he paid. It is not wonderful 
that one who knew him well spoke of him as " perversely 
honest." 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 85 



WHITE-HOUSE IKCIDE1STS. 



Trying the " Greens " on Jake — A Serious Experiment. 

A deputation of bankers were one day introduced to 
the President by the Secretary of the Treasury. One of 

the party, Mr. P of Chelsea, Mass., took occasion to 

refer to the severity of the tax laid by Congress upon the 
State Banks. 

" Now," said Mr. Lincoln, " that reminds me of a cir- 
cumstance that took place in a neighborhood where I lived 
when I was a boy. In the spring of the year the farmers 
were very fond of the dish which they called greens, 
though the fashionable name for it now-a-days is spinach, 
1 believe. One day after dinner, a large family were taken 
very ill. The doctor was called in, who attributed it to the 
greens, of which all had freely partaken. Living in the 
family was a half-witted boy named Jake. On a subse- 
quent occasion, when greens had been gathered for dinner, 
the head of the house said : ' Now, boys, before running 
any further risk in this thing, we will first try them on 
Jake. If he stands it, we are all right.' And just so, I 
suppose," said Mr. Lincoln, " Congress thought it would 
4try this tax on the State Banks ! " 



A Little Story which Lincoln told the Preachers. 

A year or more before Mr. Lincoln's death, a delegation 
of clergymen waited upon him in reference to the appoint- 
ment of the army chaplains. The delegation consisted of 
a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and an Episcopal clergyman. 



86 LINCOLN STORIES. 

They stated that the character of many of the chaplains 
was notoriously bad, and they had come to urge upon the 
President the necessity of more discretion in these ap- 
pointments. 

" But, gentlemen," said the President, " that is a matter 
which the Government has nothing to do with; the chap- 
lains are chosen by the regiments." 

Not satisfied with this, the clergymen pressed, in turn, a 
change in the system. Mr. Lincoln heard them through 
without remark, and then said, " Without any disrespect, 
gentlemen, I will tell you a ' little story.' 

" Once, in Springfield, I was going off on a short jour- 
ney, and reached the depot a little ahead of time. Leaning 
against the fence just outside the depot was a little darkey 
boy, whom I knew, named ' Dick,' busily digging with his 
toe in a mud-puddle. As I came up, I said, ' Dick, what 
are you about ? ' 

" ' Making a church? said he. 

" ' A church ? ' said I ; ' what do you mean ? ' 

" ' Why, yes,' said Dick, pointing with his toe, ' don't 
you see ? there is the shape of it ; there's the steps and 
front-door — here the pews, where the folks set — and there 's 
the pulpit.' 

" ' Yes, I see,' said I, ' but why don't you make a 
minister ? ' 

" ' Laws,' answered Dick, with a grin, ' I hain't got mud 
enough ! ' " 



How Lincoln Stood up for the Word " Sugar-Coated." 

Mr. Defrees, the government printer, states, that, when 
one of the President's messages was being printed, he was 
a good deal disturbed by the use of the term ki sugar- 
coated," and finally went to Mr. Lincoln about it. Their 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 87 

relations to each other being of the most intimate character, 
he told the President frankly, that he ought to remember 
that a message to Congress was a different affair from 
a speech at a mass meeting in Illinois ; that the mes- 
sages became a part of history, and should be written 
accordingly. 

" What is the matter now ?" inquired the President. 

" Why," said Mr. Defrees, "you have used an undig- 
nified expression in the message ;" and then, reading the 
paragraph aloud, he added, " I would alter the structure 
of that, if I were you." 

" Defrees," replied Mr. Lincoln, " that word expresses 
precisely my idea, and I am not going to change it. The 
time will never come in this country when the people won't 
know exactly what sugar-coated means ! " 

On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Defrees states that a 
certain sentence of another message was very awkwardly 
constructed. Calling the President's attention to in the 
proof-copy, the latter acknowledged the force of the objec- 
tion raised, and said, " Go home, Defrees, and see if you 
can better it." 

The next day Mr. Defrees took in to him his amendment. 
Mr. Lincoln met him by saying :• " Seward found the same 
fault that you did, and he has been rewriting the paragraph, 
also." Then, reading Mr. Defrees' version, he said, " I 
believe you have beaten Seward; but, ' I jings,' I think I 
can beat you both." Then, taking up his pen, he wrote 
the sentence as it was finally printed. 



Lincoln's Advice to a Prominent Bachelor. 

Upon the bethrothal of the Prince of Wales to the Prin- 
cess Alexandra, Queen Victoria sent a letter to each of 
the European sovereigns, and also to President Lincoln, 



88 LINCOLN STORIES. 

announcing the fact. Lord Lyons, her ambassador at 
"Washington, — a " bachelor," by the way, — requested an 
audience of Mr. Lincoln, that he might present this im- 
portant document in person. At the time appointed he 
was received at the White House, in company with Mr. 
'Seward. 

" May it please your Excellency/' said Lord Lyons, " I 
hold in my hand an autograph letter from my royal mis- 
tress, Queen Yictoria, which I have been commanded to 
present to your Excellency. In it she informs your Excel- 
lency, that her son, his Royal Highness the Prince of 
Wales, is about to contract a matrimonial alliance with her 
Royal Highness the Princess Alexandra of Denmark." 

After continuing in this strain for a few minutes, Lord 
Lyons tendered the letter to the President and awaited his 
reply. It was short, simple, and expressive, and consisted 
simply of the words : 

" Lord Lyons, go thou and do likewise?'' 

It is doubtful if an English ambassador was ever ad- 
dressed in this manner before, and it would be interesting 
to learn what success he met with in putting the reply in 
diplomatic language when he reported it to her Majesty. 



Mr. Lincoln and the Bashful Boys — He Tells a Story of Daniel 

Webster. 

The President and a friend were standing upon the thresh- 
old of the door under the portico of the White House^ 
awaiting the coachman, when a letter was put into his hand. 
While he was reading this, people were passing, as is cus- 
tomary, up and down the promenade, which leads through 
the grounds to the War Department, crossing, of course, 
the portico. Attention was attracted to an approaching 
party, apparently a countryman, plainly dressed, with his 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 



89 



wife and two little boys, who had evidently been straying 
about, looking at the places of public interest in the city. 
As they reached the portico, the father, who was in advance' 
caught sight of the tall figure of Mr. Lincoln, absorbed in 
his letter. His wife and the little boys were ascending the 
steps. to 

The man stopped suddenly, put out his hand with a " hush " 
to his family, and, after a moment's gaze, he bent down and 
whispered to them, " There is the President!" Then leav- 
ing them, he slowly made a half circuit around Mr. Lincoln, 
watching him intently all the while. 

At tins point, having finished his letter, the President 
turned and said: "Well, we will not wait any longer for 
the carriage; it won't hurt you and me to walk down." 

The countryman here approached very diffidently, and 
asked if he might be allowed to take the President by the 
hand; after which, "Would he extend the same privilege 
to his wife and little boys?" 

Mr. Lincoln, good-naturedly, approached the latter, who 
had remained where they were stopped, and, reaching down 
said a kind word to the bashful little fellows, who shrank 
close up to their mother, and did not reply. This simple 
act filled the father's cup full. 

" The Lord is with you, Mr. President," he said, rever- 
ently; and then, hesitating a moment, he added, with strong 
emphasis, "and the people, too, sir; and the people, too!" 

A few moments later Mr. Lincoln remarked to his friend: 
" Great men have various estimates. When Daniel Webster 
made his tour through the West years ago, he visited Spring- 
field among other places, where great preparations had been 
made to receive him. As the procession was going through 
the town, a barefooted little darkey boy pulled the sleeve^of 
a man named T., and asked : 

What the folks were all doing down the street?' 



90 LINCOLN STORIES. 

" ' Why, Jack,' was the reply, ' the biggest man in the 
world is coming.' 

" Now, there lived in Springfield a man by the name of 
G. — a very corpulent man. Jack darted off down the street, 
but presently returned, with a very disappointed air. 

" ' "Well, did you see him?' inquired T. 

" ' Yees,' returned Jack; ' but laws — he ain't half as big 
as old G: " 



An Irish Soldier Who Wanted Something Stronger than Soda- Water. 

Upon Mr. Lincoln's return to Washington, after the cap- 
ture of Richmond, a member of the Cabinet asked him if it 
would be proper to permit Jacob Thompson to slip through 
Maine in disguise, and embark from Portland. The Presi- 
dent, as usual, was disposed to be merciful, and to permit 
the arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but the Secretary urged 
that he should be arrested as a traitor. " By permitting 
him to escape the penalties of treason," persistently remarked 
the Secretary, "you sanction it." "Well," replied Mr. Lin- 
coln, " let me tell you a story. 

" There was an Irish soldier here last Summer, who wanted 
something to drink stronger than water, and stopped at a 
drug-shop, where he espied a soda-fountain. 

" ' Mr. Doctor,' said he, ' give me, plase, a glass of soda- 
wather, an' if yees can put in a few drops of whisky unbe- 
known to any one, I'll be obleeged.' 

" Now," said Mr. Lincoln, " if Jake Thompson is per- 
mitted to go through Maine unbeknown to any one, what's 
the harm? So don't have him arrested." 



WHITE-ROUSE INCIDENTS. 91 

Looking Out for Breakers — How the President Illustrated It. 

In a time of despondency, some visitors were telling the 
President of the " breakers " so often seen ahead — " this 
time surely coming." a That," said he, " suggests the story 
of the school-boy, who never could pronounce the names 
' Shadrach,' ' Meshach," and ' Abednego.' He had been 
repeatedly whipped for it without effect. Sometime after- 
wards he saw the names in the regular lesson for the day. 
Putting his finger upon the place, he turned to his next 
neighbor, an older boy, and whispered, 'Here comes those 
" torme?ited Hebrews' 1 '' again P " 



Work Enough for Twenty Presidents Illustrated by a Story 
About Jack Chase. 

A farmer from one of trie border counties went to the 
President on a certain occasion with the complaint that the 
Union soldiers in passing his farm had helped themselves 
not only to hay but to his horse; and he hoped the proper 
officer would be required to consider his claim immediately. 

" Why, my good sir," replied Mr. Lincoln, " if I should 
attempt to consider every such individual case, I should 
find work enough for twenty Presidents ! 

" In my early days, I knew one Jack Chase, who was a 
lumberman on the Illinois, and, when steady and sober, the 
best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick twenty- 
five years ago to take the logs over the rapids, but he was 
skillful with a raft, and always kept her straight in the chan- 
nel. Finally a steamer was put on, and Jack — he's dead 
now, poor fellow ! — was made captain of her. He always 
used to take the wheel going through the rapids. One 
day, when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the 
boiling current, and Jack's utmost vigilance was being 
exercised to keep her in the narrow channel, a boy pulled 



92 LINCOLN STORIES. - 

his coat-tail and hailed him with: 'Say, Mister Captain! I 
wish yon would just stop your boat a minute — I've lost 
my apple overboard !' " 



Philosophy of Canes — The Kind Lincoln Made and Carried 
When a Boy. 

A gentleman calling at the White House one evening 
carried a cane, which, in the course of conversation, attracted 
the President's attention. Taking it in his hand, he said: 
" I always used a cane when I was a boy. It was a freak 
of mine. My favorite one was a knotted beech stick, and I 
carved the head myself. .There's a mighty amount of char- 
acter in sticks. Don't you think so? You have seen these 
•fishinir-noles that fit into a cane ? Well, that was an old 
idea of mine. Dogwood clubs were favorite ones with the 
boys. I suppose they use them yet. Hickory is too heavy, 
unless you get it from a young sapling. Have you ever 
noticed how a stick in one's hand will change his appear- 
ance? Old women and witches wouldn't look so without 
sticks. Meg Merrilies understands that." 



Stories Illustrating Lincoln's Memory. 

Mr. Lincoln's memory was very remarkable. At one of 
the afternoon receptions at the White House, a stranger 
shook hands with him, and, as he did so, remarked, casually, 
that he was elected to Congress about the time Mr. Lin- 
coln's term as representative expired, which happened 
many years before. 

"Yes," said the President, "you are from ," men- 
tioning the state. " I remember reading of your election 
in a newspaper one morning on a steamboat going down to 
Mount Vernon." 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 93 

Ai another i;ime a gentleman addressed him, saying, " I 
presume, Mr. President, that you have forgotten me?" 

" No," was the prompt reply; " your name is Flood. I 

saw you last, twelve years ago, at ," naming the place 

and the occasion. " I am 'glad to see," he continued, " that 
the Flood flows on." 

Subsequent to his re-election a deputation of bankers 
from various sections were introduced one day by the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. After a few moments of general con- 
versation, Mr. Lincoln turned to one of them, and said: 
" Your district did not give me so strong a vote at the last 
election as it did in 1860." 

"I think,. sir, that you must be mistaken," replied the 
banker. " I have the impression that your majority was 
considerably increased at the last election." 

" No," rejoined the President, " you fell off about six 
hundred votes." Then taking down from the book-case the 
official canvass of 1860 and 1864, he referred to the vote of 
the district named, and proved to be quite right in his 
assertion. 



Common Sense. 



The Hon. Mr. Hubbard, of Connecticut, once called upon 
the President in reference to a newly invented gun, concern- 
ing which a committee had been appointed to make a report. 

The " report " was sent for, and when it came in w r as found 
to be of the most voluminous description. Mr. Lincoln 
glanced at it, and said: " I should want a new lease of life 
to read this through !" Throwing it down upon the table, 
he added: " Why can't a committee of this kind occasion- 
ally exhibit a grain of common sense? If I send a man to 
buy a horse for rm, I expect him to tell me his, points — not 
how many Jcairs there are in his tail. 



94 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln's Confab with a Committee on " Grant's Whisky." 

Just previous to the fall of Vicksburg, a self-constituted 
committee, solicitous for the morale of our armies, took it 
upon themselves to visit the President and urge the removal 
of General Grant. 

In some surprise Mr. Lincoln inquired, " For what rea- 
son?" 

" "Why," replied the spokesman, " he drinks too much 
whisky." 

"Ah!" rejoined Mr. Lincoln, dropping his lower lip. 
"By the way, gentlemen, can either of you tell me where 
General Grant procures his whisky? because, if I can find 
out, I will send every general in the field a barrel of it!" 



A "Pretty Tolerable Respectable Sort of a Clergyman." 

Some one was discussing, in the presence of Mr. Lincoln, 
the character of a time-serving Washington clergyman. 
Said Mr. Lincoln to his visitor: 

" I think you are rather hard upon Mr. . He reminds 

me of a man in Illinois, who was tried for passing a count- 
erfeit bill. It was in evidence that before passing it he had 
taken it to the cashier of a bank and asked his opinion of 
the bill, and he received a very prompt reply that it was a 
counterfeit. His lawyer, who had heard the evidence to be 
brought against his client, asked him, just before going into 
court, v Did you take the bill to the cashier of the bank 
and ask him if it was good?' 

" ' I did,' was the reply. 

u t "Well, what was the reply of the cashier?' 

" The rascal was in a corner, but he got out of it in this 
fashion: ' He said it was a pretty tolerable, respectable sort 
of a bill.' " Mr. Lincoln thought the clergyman was " a 
pretty tolerable, respectable sort of a clergyman." 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 97 

How Lincoln Opened the Eyes of an Inquisitive Visitor. 

Mr. Lincoln sometimes had a very effective way of dealing 
»vith men who troubled him with questions. A visitor cnce 
asked him how many men the Rebels had in the field. 

The President replied, very seriously, u Twelve hundred 
thousand, according to the lest authority." 

The interrogator blanched in the face, and ejaculated, 
" Good Heavens!" 

" Yes, sir, twelve hundred thousand — no doubt of it. 
You see, all of our generals, when they get whipped, say 
the enemy outnumbers them from three or five to one, and 
I must believe them. We have four hundred thousand men 
in the field, and three times four make twelve. Don't you 
see it?" 



Minnehaha and Minneboohoo! 

Some gentlemen fresh from a Western tour, during a call 
at the White House, referred in the course of conversation 
to a body of water in Nebraska, which bore an Indian name 
signifying "weeping water." Mr. Lincoln instantly re- 
sponded: "As ' laughing water,' according to Longfellow, 
is ' Minnehaha,' this evidently should be ' Minneboohoo. 



j ?> 



Meeting of President Lincoln and the Artist, Carpenter. 

F. B. Carpenter, the celebrated artist and author of the 
well-known painting of Lincoln and his Cabinet issuing the 
Emancipation Proclamation, describes his first meeting 
with the President, as follows: 

" Two o'clock found me one of the throng pressing toward 
the center of attraction, the ' blue ' room. From the thresh- 
old of the ' crimson ' parlor as I passed, I had a glimpse 
7 



98 LINCOLN STORIES. 

of the gaunt figure of Mr. Lincoln in the distance, haggard- 
looking, dressed in black, relieved only by the prescribed 
white gloves; standing, it seemed tome, solitary and alone, 
though surrounded by the crowd, bending low now and 
then in the process of hand shaking, and responding half 
abstractedly to the well-meant greetings of the miscel- 
laneous assemblage. 

" Never shall I forget the electric thrill whicli went 
through my whole being at this instant. I seemed to see 
lines radiating from every part of the globe, converging to 
a focus at the point where that plain, awkward-looking man 
stood, and to hear in spirit a million prayers, ' as the sound 
of many waters,' ascending in his behalf. Mingled with 
supplication I could discern a clear symphony of triumph 
and blessing, swelling with an ever-increasing volume. It 
was the voice of those who had been bondmen and bond- 
women, and the grand diapason swept up from the coming- 
ages. 

" It was soon my privilege, in the regular succession, to 
take that honored hand. Accompanying the act, my namo 
and profession were announced to him in a low tone by one 
of the assistant private secretaries, who stood by his side. 
Retaining my hand, he looked at me inquiringly for an 
instant, and said, 'Oh, yes; I know; this is the painter.' 
Then straightening himself to his full height, with a twinkle 

of the eye, he added, playfully, "• Do you think, Mr. C , 

that you can make a handsome picture of rneP emphasizing 
strongly the last word. Somewhat confused at this point- 
blank shot, uttered in a tone so loud as to attract the 
attention of those in immediate proximity, I made a ran- 
dom reply, and took the occasion to ask if I could see him 
in his study at the close of the reception. To this he re- 
sponded in the peculiar vernacular of the West, ' I reckon,' 
resuming meanwhile the mechanical and traditional exer- 



WKITE-ROUSE INCIDENTS. 99 

cise of the hand which no President has ever yet been able 
to avoid, and which, severe as is the ordeal, is likelv to 
attach to the position so long as the Eepublic endures." 



An Apt Illustration. 

At the White House one day some gentlemen were pres- 
ent from the West, excited and troubled about the com- 
missions or omissions of the Administration. The President 
heard them patiently, and then replied: " Gentlemen, sup- 
pose all the property you were worth was in gold, and you 
had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the 
Niagara Eiver on a rope, would you shake the cable, or 
keep shouting out to him, 'Blondin, stand up a little 
straighter — Blondin, stoop a little more — go a little faster 
— lean a little more to the north — lean a little more to the 
south?' No ! you would hold your breath as well as your 
tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. 
The Government is carrying an immense weight. Untold 
treasures are in their hands. They are doing the very best 
they can. Don't badger them. Keep silence, and we'll 
get you safe across." 



More Light and Less Noise. 

An editorial, in a New York journal, opposing Lincoln's 
re-nomination, is said to have called out from him the fol- 
lowing story: A traveler on the frontier found himself out 
of his reckoning one night in a most inhospitable region. 
A terrific thunder-storm came up, to add to his trouble. 
He floundered along until his horse at length gave out, 
The lightning afforded him the only clew to his way, but 
the peals of thunder were frightful. One bolt, which seemed 
to crash the earth beneath him, brought him to his knees. 



100 LINCOLN STORIES. 

By no means a praying man, his petition was short and to 
the point—" O Lord, if it is all the same to you, give us a 
little more light and a little less noise!" 



How Lincoln Browsed'' Around. 
A party of gentlemen, among whom was a doctor of divinity 
of much dignity of manner, calling at the White House 
one day, was informed by the porter that the President 
was at dinner, but that he would present their cards. 
The doctor demurred at this, saying that he would call 
again. " Edward " assured them that he thought it would 
make no difference, and went in with the cards. In a few 
minutes the President walked into the room, with a kindly 
salutation, and a request that the friends would take seats. 
The doctor expressed his regret that their visit was so ill- 
timed, and that his Excellency was disturbed while at din- 
ner. " Oh ! no consequence at all," said Mr. Lincoln, 
good-naturedly. " Mrs. Lincoln is absent at present, and 
when she is away, I generally « browse ' around." 



Lincoln Cutting Red Tape. 

" Upon entering the President's office one afternoon," 
says a Washington correspondent, " I found Mr. Lincoln 
busily counting greenbacks. 

"' This, sir,' said he, 'is something out of my usual line; 
but a President of the United States has a multiplicity of 
duties not specified in the Constitution or acts of Congress. 
This is one of them. This money belongs to a poor negro 
who is a porter in the Treasury Department, at present 
very bad with the small-pox. He is now in hospital, and 
could not draw his pay because he could not sign his name. 
I have been at considerable trouble to overcome the dim- 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 101 

culty and get it for him, and have at length succeeded in 
cutting red taj>e, as you newspaper men say. I am now 
dividing the money and putting by a portion labelled, in 
an envelope, with my own hands, according to his wish ; ' 
and he proceeded to indorse the package very carefully." 

No one witnessing the transaction could fail to appreciate 
the goodness of heart which prompted the President of the 
United States to turn aside for a time from his weighty 
cares to succor one of the humblest of his fellow-creatures 
in sickness and sorrow. 



One of Lincoln's Drolleries. 

Concerning a drollery of President Lincoln, this story is 
told : 

" Daring the Rebellion an Austrian Count applied to 
President Lincoln for a position in the army. Being intro- 
duced by the Austrian Minister, he needed, of course, no 
further recommendation ; but, as if fearing that his im- 
portance might not be duly appreciated, he proceeded to 
explain that he was a Count ; that his family were ancient 
and highly respectable; when Lincoln, with a merry 
twinkle in his eye, tapping the aristocratic lover of titles 
on the shoulder, in a father]}* way, as if the man had con- 
fessed to some wrong, interrupted in a soothing tone, 
* Never mind; you shall be treated with just as much 
consideration for all that V " 



Anecdote Showing the Methods by which Lincoln and Stanton 
Dismissed Applicants for Office. 

A gentleman states in a Chicago journal: In the "Winter 
of 1864, after serving three years in the Union army, and 
being honorably discharged, I made application for the post 



102 LINCOLN STORIES. 

sutlership at Point Lookout. My father being interested, 
we made application to Mr. Stanton, then Secretary of "War. 
We obtained an audience, and was ushered into the presence 
of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he 
waved his band for me to stop at a given distance from him, 
and then put these questions, viz. : 

" Did you serve three years in the army?" 

" I did, sir." 

" Were you honorably discharged?" 

" I was, sir?" 

"Let- me see your discharge?" 

I gave it to him. He looked it over, and then said: 
" Were you ever wounded ?" , 

I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 18G1. 

He then said: u I think we can give this position to a 
soldier who has losl an arm or leg, he being more deserving,'" 
and he then said that I looked hearty and healthy enough 
to serve three years more. He would not give me a chance 
to argue my case. The audience was at an end. He waved 
his hand to me. I was then dismissed from the august 
presence of the Honorable Secretary of War. , 

My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw 
by my countenance that I was not successful. I said to my 
father, "Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us 
more satisfaction." He said it would do no good, but we 
went over. Mr. Lincoln's reception room was full of ladies 
and gentlemen when we entered, and the scene was one I 
shall never forget. On her knees was a woman in the agonies 
of despair, with tears rolling down her cheeks, imploring for 
the life of her son, who had deserted and had been con- 
demned to be shot. I heard Mr. Lincoln say : " Madam^ 
do not act this way, it is agony to me; I would pardon 
your son if it was in my power, but there must be an 
example made, or I will have no army." 



WHITE-HOUSE [NCI DENTS. 103 

At this speech the woman fainted. Lincoln motioned to 
his attendant, who picked the woman up and carried her 
out. All in the room were in tears. 

But, now changing the scene from the sublime to the 
ridiculous, the next applicant for favor was a big, buxom 
Irish woman, who stood before the President with arms 
akimbo, saying, " Mr. Lincoln, can't I sell apples on the 
railroad?" Lincoln said: "Certainly, madam; you can 
sell all you wish." But she said, " You must give me a 
pass or the soldiers will not let me." Lincoln then wrote a 
few lines and gave it to her, who said, "Thank you, sir; 
God bless, you." This shows how quick and clear were all 
this man's decisions. 

I stood and watched him for two hours, and he dismissed 
each case as quickly as the above, with satisfaction to all. 

My turn soon came. Lincoln spoke to my father, and 
said, " Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possi- 
ble with your business, as it is growing late." My father 
then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him. 
Lincoln then said, " Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your 
business as quick as possible." There was but one chair by 
Lincoln, so he motioned to my father to sit, while I stood. 
My father stated the business to him as stated above. He 
then said, " Have you seen Mr. Stanton?" We told him 
yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said: 
"Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton's business; I can not 
interfere with him; he attends to all these matters, and I 
am sorry I can not help you." 

He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to 
revive our spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who 
was a Lincoln man, and who was a staunch Republican. 

Mr. Lincoln then said: "Now, gentlemen, I will tell 
you what it is; I have thousands of applications like this 
every day, but we can not satisfy all for this reason, that 



104 LINCOLN STORLES. 

these positions are like office-seekers, there are too many 
2?igs for the tits." 

The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed 
their handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But 
the joke of Old Abe put us all in a good humor. We 
then left the presence of the greatest and most just man 
who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair. 



An Instance Where the President's Mind Wandered. 

An amusing, yet touching instance of the President's 
pre-occupation of mind, occurred at one of his levees, 
when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors passing 
him in a continuous stream. An intimate acquaintance 
received the usual conventional hand-shake and salutation,, 
but perceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground 
instead of moving on, and spoke again; when the Presi- 
dent, roused to a dim consciousness that something unusual 
had happened, perceived who stood before him, and seizing 
his friend's hand, shook it again heartily, saying, " How do 
you do? How do you do? Excuse ine for not noticing 
you. I was thinking of a man down South." He after- 
ward privately acknowledged that the " man down South " 
was Sherman, then on his march to the sea. 



Lincoln and the Preacher. 

An officer of the Government called one day at the White 
House, and introduced a clerical friend. "Mr. President, 1 ' 
said he, "allow me to present to you my friend, the Rev. 

Mr. F., of . He has expressed a desire to see you and 

have some conversation with you, and I am happy to be the 
means of introducing him." 

The President shook hands with Mr. F., and desiring 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 105 

him to be seated took a seat himself. Then, his counte- 
nance having assumed an air of patient waiting, he said: " I 
am now ready to hear what you have to say." "Oh, bless 
you, sir," said Mr. F., " I have nothing special to say; I 
merely called to pay my respects to you, and, as one of 
the million, to assure you of my hearty sympathy and 
support." 

" My dear sir," said the President, rising promptly, his 
face showing instant relief, and with both hands grasping 
that of his visitor, " I am very glad to see you, indeed. / 
thought you had come to preach to me!" 



A Horns Incident — Lincoln and Little " Tad." 

The day after the review of Burnside's division some 
photographers, says Mr. Carpenter, came up to the White 
House to make some stereoscopic studies for me of the 
President's office. They requested a dark closet, in which 
to develop the pictures; and without a thought that I was 
infringing upon anybody's rights, I took them to an unoc- 
cupied room of which little "Tad " had taken possession a 
few days before, and with the aid of a couple of the ser- 
vants, had fitted up as a miniature theatre, with stage, cur- 
tains, orchestra, stalls, parquette, and all. Knowing that 
the use required would interfere with none of his arrange- 
ments, I led the way to this apartment. 

Everything went on well, and one or two pictures had 
been taken, when suddenly there was an uproar. The 
operator came back to the office, and said that " Tad " had 
taken great offence at the occupation of his room without 
his consent, and had locked the door, refusing all admission. 
The chemicals had been taken inside, and there was no way 
of getting at them, he having carried off the key. In the 
midst of this conversation, " Tad " burst in, in a fearful 



10G LINCOLN STORIES. 

passion. lie laid all the blame upon me — said that I had 
no right to use his room, and the men should not go in 
even to get their things. He had locked the door, and they 
should not go there again — " they had no business in his 
room !" 

Mr. Lincoln was sitting for a photograph, and was still 
in the chair. He said, very mildly, " Tad, go and unlock 
the door." Tad went off muttering into his mother's room, 
refusing to obey. I followed him into the passage, but no 
coaxing would pacify him. Upon my return to the Presi- 
dent, I found him still sitting patiently in the chair, from 
which he had not risen. He said: " Has not the boy 
opened the door?"' I replied that we could do nothing with 
him — he had gone off in a great pet. Mr. Lincoln's lips 
came together firmly, and then, suddenly rising, he strode 
across the passage with the air of one bent on punishment, 
and disappeared in the domestic apartments. Directly he 
returned with the key to the theatre, which he unlocked 
himself. " There," said he, " go ahead, it is all right now." 
He then went back to his office, followed by myself, and 
resumed his seat. u Tad," said he, half apologetically, " is 
a peculiar child. He was violently excited when I went to 
him. I said, 'Tad, do you know you are making your 
father a great deal of trouble?' He burst into tears, 
instantly giving me up the key." 



A Touching Incident — Lincoln Mourning for His Lost Son is 
Comforted by Rev. Dr. Vinton. 

After the funeral of his son, William Wallace Lincoln, 
in February, 1862, the President resumed his official duties, 
but mechanically, and with a terrible weight at his heart. 
The following Thursday he gave way to his feelings, and 
shut himself from all society. The second Thursday it was- 



WHITE-IIOUSE INCIDENTS. 107 

the same; he would see no one, and seemed a prey to the 
deepest melancholy. About this time the Rev. Francis 
Vinton, of Trinity Church, New York, had occasion to 
spend a few days in Washington. An acquaintance of Mrs. 
Lincoln and of her sister, Mrs. Edwards, of Springfield, he 
was requested by them to come up and see the President. 
The setting apart of Thursday for the indulgence of his 
grief had gone on for several weeks, and Mrs. Lincoln 
began to be seriously alarmed for the health of her husband, 
of which fact Dr. Yinton was apprised. 

Mr. Lincoln received him in the parlor, and an oppor- 
tunity was soon embraced by the clergyman to chide him 
for showing so rebellious a disposition to the decrees of 
Providence. He told him plainly that the indulgence of 
such feelings, though natural, was sinful. It was unworthy 
one who believed in the Christian religion. He had duties 
to the living, greater than those of any other man, as the 
chosen father, and leader of the people, and he was unfitting 
himself for his responsibilities by thus giving way to his 
grief. To mourn the departed as lost belonged to heathen- 
ism — not to Christianity. " Your son," said Dr. Yinton, 
" is alive, in Paradise. Do you remember that passage in 
the Gospels: 'God is not the God of the dead but of the 
living, for all live unto Him?' " 

The President had listened as one in a stupor, until his 
ear caught he words, " Your son is alive." Starting from the 
sofa, he exclaimed," Alive! alive! Surely you mock me." 

" No, sir, believe me," replied Dr. Yinton; " it is a most 
comforting doctrine of the Church, founded upon the words 
of Christ Himself." 

Mr. Lincoln looked at him a moment, and then, stepping 
forward, he threw his arm around the clergyman's neck, 
and, laying his head upon his breast, sobbed aloud, " Alive ? 
alive?" he repeated. 



108 LINCOLN STORIES. 

"My dear sir," said Dr.. Vinton, greatly moved, as he 
twined his own arm around the weeping father, " believe 
this, for it is God's most precious truth. Seek not your 
son among the dead; he is not there; he lives to-day in 
Paradise! Think of the full import of the words I have 
quoted. The Sadducees, when they questioned Jesus, had 
no other conception than that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
were dead and buried. Mark the reply: 'Now that the 
dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush when he 
called the "Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 
the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead, but 
of the living, for all live unto LTimP Did not the aged 
patriarch mourn his sons as dead ? — ' Joseph is not, and 
Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin, also.' But Joseph 
and Simeon were both living, though he believed it not. 
Indeed, Joseph being taken from him, was the eventual 
means of the preservation of the whole family. And so 
God has called your son into His upper kingdom — a king- 
dom and an existence as real, more real, than your own. It 
may be that he, too, like Joseph, has gone, in God's good 
providence, to be the salvation of his father's household. It 
is a part of the Lord's plan for the ultimate happiness of 
you and yours. Doubt it not. I have a sermon," con- 
tinued Dr. Vinton, " upon this subject, which I think might 
interest you." 

Mr. Lincoln begged him to send it at an early day — 
thanking him repeatedly for his cheering and hopeful 
words. The sermon was sent, and read over and over by 
the President, who caused a copy to be made for his own 
private use before it was returned. 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 109 

Lincoln Wipes the Tears from His Eyes and Tells a Story. 

A. W. Clark, member of Congress from Watertown, ]S r ew 
York, relates the following interesting story: During the 
war a constituent came to me and stated that one of his 
sons was killed in a battle, and another died at Anderson- 
ville, while the third and only remaining son was sick at 
Harper's Ferry. 

These disasters had such effect on his wife that she had 
become insane. He wanted to get this last and sick son 
discharged, and take him home, hoping it would restore his 
wife to reason. I went with him to President Lincoln and 
related the facts as well as I could, the father sitting by and 
weeping. The President, much attected, asked for the 
papers and wrote across them, " Discharge this man." 

Then, wiping the tear from Ms cheek, he turned to the man 
at the door, and said "Brim, in th:.t Man," rather as if he 
felt bored, which caused mc to ask why it was so. 

He replied that it was r. writi? g-master who had spent a 
long time in copying nis Emana;. tion Proclamation, had 
ornamented it with flourishes, rod hich made him think 
of an Irishman who said it t< >k him zn hour to catch his 
old horse, and when he had caught him he was not worth 
a darn! 



Comments of Mr. Lincoln on the Emancipation Proclamation — 
What He Told Mr. Colfax. 

The final proclamation was sgned on New Year's Day, 
1863. The President remarked to Mr. Colfax, the same 
evening, that the signature appeared somewhat tremulous 
and uneven. "Not," said he, "because of any uncertainty 
or hesitation on my part; but it was just after the public 
reception, and three hours' hand-shaking is not calculated 
to improve a man's chirography." Then, changing his 



110 LINCOLN STORIES. 

tone, he added: "The South had fair warning, that if they 
did not return to their duty, I should strike at this pillar 
of their strength. The promise must now be kept, and I 
shall never recall one word." 



Lincoln Arguing Against the Emancipation Proclamation That 
He May Learn all about It. 

When Lincoln's judgment, which acted slowly, but which 
was almost as immovable as the eternal hills when settled, 
was grasping some subject of importance, the arguments 
against his own desires seemed uppermost in his mind, 
and, in conversing upon it, he would present those argu- 
ments to see if they could be rebutted. 

This is illustrated by the interview between himself and 
the Chicago delegation of clergymen, appointed to urge 
upon him the issue of a Proclamation of Emancipation 
which occurred September 13, 1862, more than a month after 
he had declared to the Cabinet his established purpose to 
take this step. 

He said to this committee: "I do not want to issue a 
document that the whole world will see must necessarily 
be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet ! '» 
After drawing out their views upon the subject, he con- 
cluded the interview with th:se memorable words: 

" Do not misunderstand me, because I have mentioned 
these objections? They indicate the difficulties which have 
thus far prevented my action in some such way as you 
desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of liberty 
to the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement. And 
1 can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day 
and night, more than any other. Whatever shall appear to 
be God's will, I will do ! I trust that, in the freedom with 
which I have canvassed your views, I have not in any re- 
spect injured your feelings." 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. Ill 

Lincoln's Laugh — What Hon. I. N. Arnold Said About It. 
Mr. Lincoln's ''laugh" stood by itself. The "neigh " of 
a wild horse on his native prairie is not more undisguised 
and hearty. A group of gentlemen, among whom was his 
old Springfield friend and associate, Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, 
were one day conversing in the passage near his office, 
while awaiting admission. A congressional delegation had 
preceded them, and presently an unmistakable voice was 
heard through the partition, in a burst of mirth. Mr. 
Arnold remarked, as the sound died away: "That laugh has 
been the President'' s life-preserver!" 



Lincoln and the Newspapers. 

On a certain occasion, the President was induced by a 
committee of gentlemen to examine a newly-invented 
" repeating" gun, the peculiarity of which was, that it pre- 
vented the escape of gas. After due inspection, he said : 
" Well, I believe this really does what it is represented to 
do. Now. have any of you heard of any machine or inven- 
tion for preventing the escape of ' gas ' from newspaper 
establishments ?" 



Criticism — Its Effect Upon Mr. Lincoln — A Bull-frog Story He 
Told as an H'ustration. 

Violent criticism, attacks and denunciations, coming 
either from radicals or conservatives, rarely ruffled the 
President, if they reached his ears. It must have been in 
connection with something of this kind, that he once told a 
friend this story: 

"Some years ago," said he, "a couple of 'emigrants,' 
fresh from the ' Emerald Isle,' seeking labor, were making 
their way toward the West. Coming suddenly one evening 



112 LINCOLN STORIES. 

upon a pond of water, they were greeted with a grand 
chorus of bull-frogs — a kind of music they had never before 
heard. ' B-a-u-m ! ' — B-a-u-m ! ' 

" Overcome with terror, they clutched their : shillelahs,' 
and crept cautiously forward, straining their eyes in every 
direction to catch a glimpse of the enemy; but he was not 
to be found ! 

"At last a happy idea seized the foremost one — he sprang 
to his companion and exclaimed, 'And sure, Jamie ! it is 
my opinion it's nothing but a ' noise. n " 



Lincoln's Story of a Poodle Dog Used on the End 01 a Long Pole 
to Swab Windows. 

A friend who was walking over from the White House 
to the War Department with Mr. Lincoln, repeated to him 
the story of a " contraband " who had fallen into the hands 
of some good, pious people, and was being taught by them 
to read and pray. 

Going off by himself one day, he was overheard to com- 
mence a prayer by the introduction of himself as "Jim 
Williams — a berry good nigga' to wash windows; 'spec's 
you know me now ? " 

After a hearty laugh at what he called this " direct way 
of putting the case," Mr. Lincoln said : 

" The story that suggests to me, has no resemblance to 
it, save in the ' washing windows ' part. A lady in Phila- 
delphia had a pet poodle dog, which mysteriously disap- 
peared. Rewards were offered for him, and a great ado 
made without effect. Some weeks passed, and all hope of 
the favorite's return had been given up, when a servant 
brought him in one day in the filthiest condition imagin- 
able. The lady was overjoyed to see her pet again, but 
horrified at his appearance. 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 113 

■ Where did you find him ?' she exclaimed. 
'• ' Oh,' replied the man, very unconcernedly, k a negro 
down the street had him tied to the end of a pole, swabbing 
windows.' " 



Lincoln's Little Speech to the Union League Committee — No 
Swapping Horses in the River. 

The day following the adjournment at Baltimore, various 
political organizations called to pay their respects to the 
President. First came the convention committee, embrac- 
ing one from each state represented — appointed to announce 
to him, formally, the nomination. Next came the Ohio 
delegation, with Menter's Band, of Cincinnati. Following 
these were the representatives of the National Union 
League, to whom he said, in concluding his brief response : 

" I do not allow myself to suppose that either the con- 
vention or the League have concluded to decide that I am 
either the greatest or the best man in America; but, rather, 
they have concluded that it is not best to swap horses while 
crossing the river, and have further concluded that I am not 
so poor a horse, but that they might make a botch of it in 
trying to swap/" 



Ejecting a Cashiered Officer from the White House — Mr. 
Lincclu Mich Offended and How He Acted. 

Among the callers at the White House one day, was an 
officer who had been cashiered from the service. He had 
prepared an elaborate defence of himself, which he con- 
sumed much time in reading to the President. When he 
had finished, Mr. Lincoln replied, that even upon his own 
statement of the case, the facts would not warrant executive 
interference. Disappointed and considerably crestfallen s 
the man withdrew. 



114 LINCOLN STORIES 

A few days afterward he made a second attempt to alter 
the President's convictions, going over substantially the 
same ground, and occupying about the same space of time, 
but without accomplishing his end. 

The third time he succeeded in forcing himself into Mr, 
Lincoln's presence, who with great forbearance listened to 
another repetition of the case to its conclusion, but made 
no reply. Waiting for a moment, the man gathered from 
the expression of his countenance that his mind was uncon- 
vinced. Turning very abruptly, he said : 

" Well, Mr. President, I see you are fully determined not 
to do me justice ! " 

This was too aggravating, even for Mr. Lincoln. Mani- 
festing, however, no more feeling than that indicated by a 
slight compression of the lips, he very quietly arose, laid 
down a package of papers he held in his hand, and then 
suddenly seizing the defunct officer by the coat-collar, he 
marched him forcibly to the door, saying, as he ejected him 
into the passage : 

" Sir, I give you fair warning never to show yourself in 
this room again. I can bear censure, but not insult ! " 

In a whining tone the man begged for his papers, which 
he had dropped. 

" Begone, sir," said the President, " your papers will be 
sent to you. I never wish to see your face again!" 



Lincoln and the Wall Street Gold Gamblers — He Wishes their 
"Devilish Heads Shot Off." 

Mr. Carpenter, the artist, is responsible for the following: 
The bill empowering the Secretary of the Treasury to 
sell the surplus gold had recently passed, and Mr. Chase 
was then in New York, giving his attention personally to 
the experiment. Governor Curtin referred to this, saying 
to the President : 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 115 

"I see by the quotations that Chase's movement has 
already knocked gold down several per cent." 

This gave occasion for the strongest expression I ever 
heard fall from the lips of Mr. Lincoln. Knotting his face 
in the intensity of his feeling, he said : " Curtin, what do 
you think of those fellows in Wall Street, who are gambling 
in gold at such a time as this ? " 

"They are a set of sharks," returned Curtin. 

"For my part," continued the President, bringing his 
clinched hand down upon the table, " I wish every one of 
them had his devilish head shot off!" 



How the Negroes Regarded " Massa Linkum " — A Story that 
Deeply Impressed the President. 

In 1863, Colonel McKaye, of ]S T ew York, with Robert 
Dale Owen and one or two other gentlemen, were associ- 
ated as a committee to investigate the condition of the 
freedmen on the coast of North Carolina. Upon their re- 
turn from Hilton Head they reported to the President; and 
in the course of the interview Colonel McKaye related the 
following incident: 

He had been speaking of the ideas of power entertained 
by these people. He said they had an idea of God, as the 
Almighty, and they had realized in their former condition 
the power of their masters. Up to the time of the arrival 
among them of the Union forces, they had no knowledge of 
any other power. Their masters fled upon the approach of 
our soldiers, and this gave the slaves a conception of a 
power greater than that exercised by them. This power 
they called "Massa Linkum." 

Colonel McKave said that their place of worship was a 
large building which {,hey called " the praise house ; " and 
the leader of the meeting, a venerable black man, was 



116 LINCOLN STORIES. 

known as " the praise man." On a certain day, when there 
was quite a large gathering of the people, considerable con- 
fusion was created by different persons attempting to tell 
who and what " Massa Linkum " was. In the midst of the 
excitement the white-headed leader commanded silence. 

" Brederin," said he, " you don't know nosen' what you'se 
talkin' 'bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa Linkum, 
he eberywhar. He know eberyting." Then, solemnly 
looking up, he added, — " He walk de earf like de Lord /" 

Colonel McKaye said that Mr. Lincoln seemed much 
affected by this account. He' did not smile, as another 
man might have done, but got up from his chair and walked 
in silence two or three times across the floor. As he 
resumed his seat, he said very impressively: 

" It is a momentous thing to be the instrument, under 
Providence, of the liberation of a race." 



One of Lincoln's Last Stories. 

One of the last stories heard from Mr. Lincoln was con- 
cerning John Tyler, for whom it was to be expected, as an 
old Henry Clay Whig, he would entertain no great respect. 
" A year or two after Tyler's accession to the Presidency," 
said he, " contemplating an excursion in some direction, his 
son went to order a special train of cars. It so happened 
that the railroad superintendent was a very strong Whig. 
On 'Bob's ' making known his errand, that official bluntly 
informed him that his road did not run any special trains- 
for the President. 

" ' What!' said ' Bob,' ' did you not furnish a special train 
for the funeral of General Harrison?' 

"'Yes,' said the superintendent, stroking his whiskers; 
* and if you will only bring your father here in that shape, 
you shall have the best train on the road!' " 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 117 

Lincoln's Habits in the White House— The Same " Old Abe "—A 
Laughable Glove Story. 

Mr. Lincoln's habits at the "White House were as simple 
as they were at his old home in Illinois. He never alluded 
to himself as " President," or as occupying " the Presi- 
dency." His office, he always designated as " this place." 
" Call me Lincoln," said he to a friend — " Mr. President " 
liad become so very tiresome to him. " If you see a news- 
boy down the street, send him up this way," said he to a 
passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news at his 
gate. Friends cautioned him against exposing himself so 
openly in the midst of enemies; but he never heeded 
them. He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely 
unprotected; and he felt any check upon his free move- 
ments as a great annoyance. He delighted to see his famil- 
iar Western friends; and he gave them always a cordial 
welcome. He met them on the old footing, and fell at once 
into the accustomed habits of talk and story-telling. 

An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the 
Presidential carriage. It should be stated, in advance, that 
the two men had probably never seen each other with gloves 
on in their lives, unless when they were used as protection 
from the cold. 

The question of each — Mr. Lincoln at the White House, 
and his friend at the hotel — was, whether he should wear 
gloves. Of course, the ladies urged gloves; but Mr. Lin- 
coln only put his in his pocket, to be used or not, according 
to circumstances. 

When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take 
in their friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his 
wife's persuasions, very handsomely gloved. The moment 
he took his seat, he began to draw off the clinging kids, 
while Mr. Lincoln began to draw his on! 



lib LINCOLN STORIES. 

" No ! no ! no ! " protested his friend, tugging at his 
gloves. " It is none of my doings; put up your gloves, Mr. 
Lincoln." 

So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and 
had their ride after their old fashion. 



Lincoln's High Compliment to the Women of America. 

A Fair for the benefit of the soldiers, held at the Patent 
Office, in Washington, called out Mr. Lincoln as an inter- 
ested visitor; and he was not permitted to retire without 
giving a word to those in attendance. " In this extraordi- 
nary war," said he, " extraordinary developments have man- 
ifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former 
wars; and among these manifestations nothing has been 
more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering 
soldiers and their families. And the chief agents in these 
fairs are the women of America. I am not accustomed to 
the use of language of eulogy; I have never studied the art 
of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if 
all that has been said by orators and poets, since the crea- 
tion of the world, in praise of women, were applied to the 
women of America, it would not do them justice for their 
conduct during the war. I will close by saying, God bless 
the women of America ! " 



Lincoln in the Hour of Deep Sorrow — He Recalls His Mother's 

Prayers. 

In February, 1862, Mr. Lincoln was visited by a severe 
affliction in the death of his beautiful son, Willie, and the 
extreme illness of his son, Thomas, familiarly called " Tad." 
This was a new burden, and the visitation which, in his firm 
faith in Providence, he regarded as providential, was also- 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 119 

inexplicable. A Christian lady from Massachusetts, who 
was officiating as nurse in one of the hospitals at the time, 
came to attend the sick children. She reports that Mr. 
Lincoln watched with her about the bedside of the sick 
ones, and that he often walked the room, saying, sadly: 

"Tins is the hardest trial of my life; why is it? Why 
is it?" 

In the course of conversations with her, he questioned 
her concerning his situation. She told Him that she was a 
widow, and that her husband and two children were in 
heaven; and added that she saw the hand of God in it all, 
and that she had never loved Him so much before as she 
had since her affliction. 

" How is that brought about? " inquired Mr. Lincoln. 

" Simply by trusting in God, and feeling that He does all 
things well," she replied. 

" Did you submit fully under the- first loss?" he asked. 

"No," she answered, "not wholly; but, as blow came 
upon blow, and all were taken, I could and did submit, and 
was very happy." 

He responded: "I am glad to hear you say that. Your 
experience will help me to bear my affliction." 

On being assured that many Christians were praying for 
him on the morning of the funeral, he wiped away the 
tears that sprang in his eyes, and said : 

" I am glad to hear that. I want them to pray for me. 
I need their prayers." 

As he was going out to the burial, the good lady expressed 
her sympathy with him. He thanked her gently, and said: 

•• I will try to go to God with my sorrows." 

A few days afterward, she asked him if he could trust 
God. He replied: 

u I think I can, and I will try. I wish I had that child- 
like faith you speak of, and I trust He will give it to me." 



120 LINCOLN STORIES. 

And then he spoke of his mother, whom so many years 
before he had committed to the dust among the wilds of 
Indiana. In this hour of his great trial, the memory of 
her who had held him upon her bosom, and soothed his 
childish griefs, came back to him with tenderest recollec- 
tions. ''I remember her prayers," said he, "and they 
have always followed me. They have clung to me all ?ny 
life." 



A Praying President — "Prayer and Praise." 

After the second defeat at Bull Run, Mr. Lincoln appeared 
very much distressed about the number of killed and 
wounded, and said to a lady friend : " I have done the best 
I could. I have asked God to guide me, and now I must 
leave the event with him." 

On another occasion, having been made acquainted with 
the fact that a great battle was in progress, at a distant but 
important point, he came into the room where this lady 
was engaged in nursing a member of the family, looking 
worn and haggard, and saying that he was so anxious that 
he could eat nothing. The possibility of defeat depressed 
him greatly ; but the lady told him he must trust, and that 
he could at least pray. 

" Yes," said he, and taking up a Bible, he started for his 
room. 

Could all the people of the nation have overheard the 
earnest petition that went up from that inner chamber, as 
it reached the ears of the nurse, they would have fallen 
upon their knees with tearful and reverential sympathy. 

At one o'clock in the afternoon, a telegram reached him 
announcing a Union victory ; and then he came directly to 
the room, his face beaming with joy, saying : 



WHITE-HOUSE INCIDENTS. 121 

" Good news ! Good news ! The victory is ours, and 
•God is good." 

"Nothing like prayer," suggested the pious lady, who 
traced a direct connection between the event and the prayer 
n which preceded it. 

" Yes, there is," he replied — "praise — prayer and praise." 

The good lady who communicates these incidents, closes 
them with the words-: u I do believe he was a true Christian, 
though he had very little confidence in himself." 



Telling a Story and Pardoning a Soldier— How Lincoln did Both. 

General Fisk attending the reception at the White House, 
on one occasion saw, waiting in the ante-room, a poor old 
man from Tennessee. Sitting down beside him, he inquired 
his errand, and learned that he had been waiting three or 
four days to get an audience, and that on his seeing Mr. 
Lincoln probably depended the life of his son, who was 
under sentence of death for some military offense. 

General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card, and 
sent it in, with a special request that the President would 
see the man. In a moment the order came ; and past sen- 
ators, governors and generals, waiting impatiently, the old 
man went into the President's presence. 

He showed Mr. Lincoln his papers, and he, on taking 
them, said he would look into the case and give him the 
result on the following day. 

The old man, in an agony of apprehension, looked up 
into the President's sympathetic face, and actually cried out: 

" To-morrow may be too late ! My son is under sentence 
of death I The decision ought to be made now ! " and the 
streaming tears told how much he was moved. 

" Come," said Mr. Lincoln, " wait a bit, and I'll tell you 



122 LINCOLN STORIES. 

a story;" and then he told the old man General Fisk's 
story about the swearing driver, as follows: 

The General had begun his military life as a Colonel, and, 
when he raised his regiment in Missouri, he proposed to 
his men that he should do all the swearing of the regiment. 
They assented ; and for months no instance was known of 
the violation of the promise. The Colonel had a teamster 
named John Todd, who, as roads were not always the best, 
had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his 
tongue. John happened to be driving a mule-team through 
a series of mud-holes a little worse than usual, when, unable 
to restrain himself any longer, he burst forth into a volley 
of energetic oaths. The Colonel took notice of the offense, 
and brought John to an account. 

"John," said he, "didn't you promise to let me do all 
the swearing: of the regiment ? " 

"Yes, I did, Colonel," he replied, " but the fact was the 
swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you weren't 
there to do it." 

As he told the story, the old man forgot his boy, and 
both the President and his listener had a hearty laugh to- 
gether at its conclusion. Then he wrote a few words which 
the old man read, and in which he found new occasion for 
tears; but the tears were tears of joy, for the words saved 
the life of his son. 



In all the great emergencies of his closing years, Mr. 
Lincoln's reliance upon Divine guidance and assistance was 
often extremely touching. 

" I have been driven many times to my knees," he once 
remarked, " by the overwhelming conviction that I had no- 
where else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about 
me, seemed insufficient for that day." 




THE NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT. 
In Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield, 111. The base of this monument is 72% ft. 
square, and with the circular projection of the catacomb on the north, and menonul 
hall on the south, the extreme length on the ground frorn north to south is 11P' ; ft. 
Height of terrace 15 ft. and 10 in. From the terrace to the apex of the obelisk. 82 ft. 
8'< in. From the grade line to the top of the lour round pedestal*, 28 ft. 4 in., and to 
the top of the nedastil of the Lincoln Statue, Z5 l 4 ft. Total height from ground line 
to apex of obelisk, 98 ft. 4% in. Total expense of erection, about $200,000. 



WAR STORIES. 125 



WAR STORIES. 



Lincoln's War Story of Andy Johnson. — Andy Seeks a Doubtful 
Interest in Col. Moody's Prayers. 

Col. Moody, " the fighting Methodist parson," as he was 
called in Tennessee, while attending a conference in Phila- 
delphia, met the President and related to him the following 
story, which we give as repeated by Mr. Lincoln to a friend: 

" He told me," said Lincoln, ' ; this story of Andy John- 
son and General Puel, which interested me intensely. The 
Colonel happened to be in Nashville the day it was reported 
that Buel had decided to evacuate the city. The Rebels, 
strongly re-enforced, were said to be within two days' march 
of the capital. Of course, the city was greatly excited. 
Moody said he went in search of Johnson, at the edge of 
the evening, and found him at his office, closeted with two 
gentlemen, who were walking the floor with him, one on 
each side. As he entered they retired, leaving him alone 
with Johnson, who came up to him, manifesting intense 
feeling, and said, ' Moody, we are sold out! Buel is a 
traitor! He is going to evacuate the city, and in forty- 
eight hours we will all be in the hands of the Rebels!' 
Then he commenced pacing the floor again, twisting his 
hands, and chafing like a caged tiger, utterly insensible to 
his friend's entreaties to become calm. Suddenly he turned 
and said: 

" • Moody, can you pray?' 

" ; That is my business, sir, as a minister of the Gospel/ 
returned the Colonel. 

'• '"Well, Moody, I wish you would pray,' said Johnson; 



126 LINCOLN STORIES. 

and instantly both went down upon their knees, at opposite 
sides of the room. 

As the prayer waxed fervent, Johnson began to respond 
in true Methodist style. Presently he crawled over on his 
hands and knees to Moody's side, and put his arm over 
him, manifesting the deepest emotion. Closing the prayer 
with a hearty ' Amen ' from each, they arose. 

"Johnson took a long breath, and said, with emphasis, 

* Moody, I feel better ! ' Shortly afterwards he asked, 

* Will you stand by me V 

" ' Certainly, I will,' was the answer. 

" ' Well, Moody, I can depend upon you ; you are one 
in a hundred thousand ! ' Re then commenced pacing 
the floor again. Suddenly he wheeled, the current of his 
thought having changed, and said, ' Oh ! Moody, I don't 
want you to think I have become a religious man because 
I asked you to pray. I am sorry to say it, but I am not, 
an 1 have never pretended to be, religious. No one knows 
this better than you ; but, Moody, there is one thing about 
it — I do believe in Almighty God ! And I believe also 

in the Bible, and I say d n me, if Nashville shall be 

surrendered ! '" 

And Nashville was not surrendered. 



A Soldier that Knew no Royalty. 

Captain Mix, the commander, at one period, of the Pres- 
ident's body-guard, told this story to a friend: 

On their way to town one sultry morning, from the 
Soldier's Home, they came upon a regiment marching into 
the city. A " straggler," very heavily loaded with camp 
equipage, was accosted by the President with the question: 

" My lad, what is that?" referring to the designation of 
his regiment. 



WAR STOBIES. 127 

" It's a regiment," said the soldier, curtly, plodding on, 
Lis gaze bent steadily upon the ground. 

" Yes, I see that," rejoined the President, " but I want to 
know what regiment." 

" Pennsylvania," replied the man in the same tone, 

looking neither to the right nor the left. 

As the carriage passed on, Mr. Lincoln turned to Captain 
Mix and said, with a merry laugh, " It is very evident that 
chap smells no blood of ' royalty ' in this establishment." 



A Little Soldier Boy that Lincoln Wanted to Bow to. 

" President Lincoln," says the Hon. W. D. Kell, " was a 
large and many-sided man, and yet so simple that no one, 
not even a child, could approach him without feeling that 
lie had found in him a sympathizing friend. I remember 
that I apprised him of the fact that a lad, the son of one of 
my townsmen, had served a year on board the gunboat 
Ottawa, and had been in two important engagements; in 
the first as a powder-monkey, when he had conducted him- 
self with such coolness that he had been chosen as captain's 
messenger in the second; and I suggested to the President 
that it was in his power to send to the !N"aval School, an- 
nually, three boys who had served at least a year in the 
navy. 

" He at once wrote on the back of a letter from the com- 
mander of the Ottaica, which I had handed him, to the 
Secretary of the Navy: 'If the appointments for this year 
have not been made, let this boy be appointed.' The ap- 
pointment had not been made, and I brought it home with 
me. It directed the lad to report for examination at the 
school in July. Just as he was ready to start, his father, 
looking over the law, discovered that he could not report 
until he was fourteen years of age, which he would not be 



128 LINCOLN STORIES. 

until September following. The poor child sat down and 
wept. He feared that he was not to go to the Naval School. 
He was, however, soon consoled by being told that ' the 
President could make it right.' It was my fortune to meet 
him the next morning at the door of the Executive Cham- 
ber with his father. 

" Taking by the hand the little fellow — short for his age, 
dressed in the sailor's blue pants and shirt — I advanced with, 
him to the President, who sat in his usual seat, a^id said: 

" ' Mr. President, my young friend, Willie Bladen, finds 
a difficulty about his appointment. You have directed him 
to appear at the school in July; but he is not yet fourteen 
years of age.' But before I got half of this out, Mr. Lin- 
coln, laying down his spectacles, rose and said : 

" ' Bless me! is that the boy who did so gallantly in those 
two great battles? Why, I feel that I should bow to him, 
and not he to me.' The little fellow had made his grace- 
ful bow. 

" The President took the papers at once, and as soon as 
he learned that a postponement until September would suf- 
fice, made the order that the lad should report in that 
month. Then putting his hand on Willie's head, he said: 

" ' Now, my boy, go home and have good fun during the 
two months, for they are about the last holiday you will 
get.' The little fellow bowed himself out, feeling that the 
President of the United States, though a very great man, 
was one that he would nevertheless like to have a game of 
romps with." 



The Story of Sallie Ward's Practical Philosophy. 

When the telegram from Cumberland Gap reached Mr. 
Lincoln that " firing was heard in the direction of Knox- 
ville," he remarked that he " was glad of it." Some per- 



WAR STORIES. 129 

son present, who had the perils of Burnside's position 
uppermost in his mind, could not see why Mr. Lincoln 
should be glad of it, and so expressed himself. 

" Why, you see," responded the President, " it reminds 
me of Mrs. Sallie Ward, a neighbor of mine, who had 
a very large family. Occasionally one of her numerous 
progeny would be heard crying in some out-of-the-way 
place, upon which Mrs. Ward would exclaim: 

' There's one of my children that isn't dead yet.' " 



Lincoln While in Bed Pardons a Soldier. 

The Hon. Mr. Kellogg, representative from Essex County, 
New York, received a dispatch one evening from the army, 
to the effect that a young townsman, who had been induced 
to enlist through his instrumentality, had, for a serious 
misdemeanor, been convicted by a court-martial, and was 
to be shot the next day. Greatly agitated, Mr. Kellogg 
went to the Secretary of War, and urged, in the strongest 
manner, a reprieve. Stanton was inexorable. 

k 'Too many cases of the kind had been let off," he said, 
"and it was time an example was made." 

Exhausting his eloquence in vain, Mr. Kellogg said: 
" Well, Mr. Secretary, the boy is not going to be shot — of 
that I give you fair warning! " 

Leaving the War Department, he went directly to the 
White House, although the hour was late. The sentinel 
on duty told him that special orders had been issued to 
admit no one whatever that night. After a long parley, by 
pledging himself to assume the responsibility of the act, 
the congressman passed in. The President had retired, but, 
indifferent to etiquette or ceremony, Judge Kellogg pressed 
his way through all obstacles to his sleeping apartment. 

9 



130 LINCOLN STORIES. 

In an excited manner he stated that the dispatch announc- 
ing the hour of execution had but just reached him. 

"This man must not be shot, Mr. President," said he. 
" I can't help what he may have done. Why, he is an old 
neighbor of mine; I can't allow him to be shot! " 

Mr. Lincoln had remained in bed, quietly listening to the 
vehement protestations of his old friend (they were in Con- 
gress together). He at length said: " Well, I don't believe 
shooting him will do him any good. Give me that pen." 
And, so saying, "red tape" was unceremoniously cut, and 
another poor fellow's lease of life was indefinitely extended. 



What Lincoln Considered the " Great Event of the Nineteenth 
Century." — Lincoln's Vow Before God. 

The following incident, remarkable for its significant 
facts, is related by Mr. Carpenter, the artist : 

Mr. Chase, says Mr. Carpenter, told me that at the 
Cabinet meeting immediately after the battle of Antietam, 
and just prior to the issue of the September proclamation, 
the President entered upon the business before them, by 
saying that " the time for the annunciation of the emanci- 
pation policy could be no longer delayed. Public senti- 
ment would sustain it — many of his warmest friends and 
supporters demanded it — and he had promised his God he 
would do it ! " The last part of this was uttered in a low 
tone, and appeared to be heard by no one but Secretary 
Chase, who was sitting near him. He asked the President 
if he correctly understood him. Mr. Lincoln replied : " 1 
made a solemn vow before God that if Gen. Lee was driven 
back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the 
declaration of freedom to the slaves?'' 

In February, 1865, a few days after the Constitutional 
Amendment, I went to Washington, and was received by 



WAR STORIES. 131 

Mr. Lincoln with the kindness and familiarity which had 
characterized our previous intercourse. I' said to him at 
this time that I was very proud to have been the artist to 
have first conceived of the design of painting a picture 
commemorative of the Act of Emancipation ; that sub- 
sequent occurrences had only confirmed my own first judg- 
ment of that act as the most sublime moral event in our 
history. " Yes," said he, — and never do I remember to 
have noticed in him more earnestness of expression or 
manner, — " as affairs have turned, it is the central act of 
my administration, and the great event of the nineteenth 
century." 



Lincoln Proposes to "Borrow the Army" ftom one of his Generals. 
On a certain occasion the President said to a friend that 
he was < in great distress ; he had been to General McClel- 
lan's house, and the General did not ask to see him; and as 
he must talk to somebody, he had sent for General Frank- 
lin and myself, to obtain our opinion as to the possibility of 
soon commencing active operations with the Army of the 
Potomac. To use his own expression, if something was 
not soon done, the bottom would fall out of the whole 
affair; and if General McClellan did not want to use the 
army, he would like to borrow it, provided he could see 
how it could be made to do something. 



Lincoln Could not Allow a Soldier to be More Polite than 
Himself. 

I was always touched, says Mr. Carpenter, by the Presi- 
dent's manner of receiving the salute of the guard at the 
White House. Whenever he appeared in the portico, on 
his way to or from the War or Treasury Department, or on 
any excursion down the avenue, the first glimpse of him 



132 LINCOLN STORIES. 

was, of course, the signal for the sentinel on duty to 
" present arms," and " call out the guard." 

This was always acknowledged by Mr. Lincoln with a 
peculiar bow and touch of the hat, no matter how many 
times it might occur in the course of a day ; and it always 
seemed to me as much a compliment to the devotion of the 
soldiers, on his part, as it was the sign of duty and deference 
on the part of the guard. 



An Interesting Visit to the Hospitals — How the Soldiers Received 

Him — He Meets a Wounded Confederate who Asks His 

Pardon — The President Weeps. 

" On the Monday before the assassination, when the Presi- 
dent was on his return from Richmond, he stopped at City 
Point. Calling upon the head surgeon at that place, Mr. 
Lincoln told him that he wished to visit all the hospitals 
under his charge, and shake hands with every soldier. The 
surgeon asked if he knew what he was undertaking, there 
being five or six thousand soldiers at that place,, and it 
would be quite a tax upon his strength to visit all the wards 
and shake hands with every soldier. Mr. Lincoln answered, 
with a smile, he 'guessed he was equal to the task; at any 
rate he would try, and go as far as he could; he should 
never, probably, see the boys again, and he wanted them to 
know that he appreciated what they had done for their 
country.' 

" Finding it useless to try to dissuade him, the surgeon 
began his rounds with the President, wh» walked from bed 
to bed, extending his hand to all, saying a few words of 
sympathy to some, making kind inquiries of others, and 
welcomed by all with the heartiest cordiality. 

"As they passed along, they came to a ward in which 
lay a rebel who had been wounded and was a prisoner. As 



WAR S TOBIES. 13S 

the tall figure of the kindly visitor appeared in sight, he 
was recognized by the rebel soldier, who, raising himself on 
his elbow in bed, watched Mr. Lincoln as he approached, 
and extending his hand exclaimed, while tears ran down 
his cheeks, — 

" ' Mr. Lincoln, I have long wanted to see you, to ask 
your forgiveness for ever raising my hand against the old. 
flag.' 

'* Mr. Lincoln was moved to tears. He heartily shook 
the hand of the repentant rebel, and assured him of his 
good will, and with a few words of kind advice passed on. 
"After some hours the tour of the various hospitals was 
made, and Mr. Lincoln returned with the surgeon to his 
office. They had scarcely entered, however, when a mes- 
senger came saying that one ward had been omitted, and 
' the boys ' wanted to see the President. The surgeon, who 
was thoroughly tired, and knew Mr. Lincoln must be, tried 
to dissuade him from going; but the good man said he 
must go back; he would not knowingly omit one, 'the 
boys ' would be so disappointed. So he went with the mes- 
senger, accompanied by the surgeon, and shook hands with 
the gratified soldiers, and then returned again to the office. 

" The surgeon expressed the fear that the President's 
arm would be lamed with so much hand-shaking, saying 
that it certainly must ache. Mr. Lincoln smiled, and say- 
ing something about his ' strong muscles,' stepped out at 
the open door, took up a very large, heavy axe which lay 
there by a log of wood, and chopped vigorously for a few 
moments, sending the chips flying in all directions; and 
then, pausing, he extended his right arm to its full length, 
holding the axe out horizontally, without its even quivering 
as he held it. Strong men who looked on — men accus- 
tomed to manual labor — could not hold the same axe in 
that position for a moment. Returning to the office, he 



134 LINCOLN STORIES. 

took a glass of lemonade, for he would take no stronger 
beverage; and while he was within, the chips he had 
chopped were gathered up and safely cared for by a hospital 
steward, because they were ' the chips that Father Abraham 
chopped.' " 



Mr. Lincoln and a Clergyman. 

At the semi-annual meeting of the New Jersey Histor- 
ical Society, held recently in Newark, N. J., Rev. Dr. 
Sheldon, of Princeton, read a memorial of their late Presi- 
dent, Rev. R. K. Rodgers, D.D., in which appears the fol- 
lowing fresh incident concerning Mr. Lincoln and the war: 

" One day during the war, Dr. Rodgers was called on by 
a man in his congregation, who, in the greatest distress, 
told him that his son, a soldier in the army, had just been 
sentenced to be shot for desertion, and begged the minister's 
interposition. The Doctor went to Washington with the 
wife and infant child of the condemned man, and sent his 
card up to Mr. Lincoln. When admitted, the President 
said : 

" ' You are a minister, I believe. What can I do for 
you, my friend ?' 

"The reply was: ' A young man from my congregation 
in the army has so far forgotten his duty to his country and 
his God as to desert his colors, and is sentenced to die. I 
have come to ask you to spare him.' 

'With characteristic quaintuess the President replied: 
* Then you don't want him hurt, do you?' 

"' Oh, no,' said the petitioner, I did not mean that; he 
deserves punishment, but I beg for him time to prepare to 
meet his God.' 

" < Do you say he has father, wife and child?' said Mr. 
Lincoln. " ' Yes.' ". ' Where do you say he is?' 



WAR STORIES. 135 

" On being told, lie turned to his secretary, said a few 
words in an undertone, of which that official made note, and 
added to Dr. Rodgers, ' You have your request. Tell his 
friends I have reprieved him.' 

" With a ' God bless you, Mr. President,' Dr. Rodgers 
turned away to bear the glad news to the distressed family." 



A Remarkable Letter From Lincoln to Gen. Hooker. 

The following remarkable letter from Lincoln to General 
Hooker was written after the latter had taken command of 
the Army of the Potomac, in January, 1863, and while the 
President yet retained it in his possession, an intimate 
friend chanced to be in his Cabinet one night, and the Pres- 
ident read it to him, remarking, " I shall not read this to 
anybody else, but I want to know how it strikes you." 
During the following April or May, while the Army of the 
Potomac lay opposite Fredericksburg, this friend accom- 
panied the President to General Hooker's headquarters on 
a visit. One night General Hooker, alone in his tent with 
this gentleman, said: 

" The President says that he showed you this letter," and. 
he then took out that document, which was closely written 
on a sheet of letter-paper. The tears stood in the General's 
bright blue eyes as he added: "It is such a letter as a 
father might have written to his son. And yet it hurt 
me." Then, dashing the water from his eyes, he said: 
" When I have been to Richmond, I shall have this letter 
published." 

This was more than sixteen years ago, and the letter has 
just now seen the light of clay. There are in it certain 
sharp passages which, after this long lapse of time, can not 
be verified by the memory of any who heard it read in 1S63. 
There are others which seem missing. Nevertheless, the 



136 LINCOLN STORIES. 

letter, which is herewith reprinted, must have been written 

by Lincoln : 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, Jan. 26, 18G3. — Mcj.-Oen. 
Hooker — General: I have placed you at the head of the Army of the 
Potomac. Of course I have doue this upon what appears to me to be 
sufficient reasons; and yet I think it best for you to know that there 
are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied wilh you. 
I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier — which, of course, I 
like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession — in 
which you arc right. You have confidence in yourself— which is a 
valuable, if not an indispensable, quality. You are ambitious — which, 
within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm ; but I think 
that, during General Burnside's command of the army, you have taken 
counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in 
which you did a great wrong to the country, and to a most meritorious 
and honorable brother-officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe 
it, of your recently saying that both the army and the Government 
needed a Dictator. Of course, it was not lor this, but in spite of it, that 
I have given you the command. Only those Generals who gain suc- 
cesses can set up Dictators. What I now ask of you is military 
success, and I will risk the Dictatorship. The Government will sup- 
port you to the utmost of its ability— which is neither more nor less 
than it lias done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the 
spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their 
commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon 
you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor 
Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army 
while such a spirit prevails in it. And now beware of rashness. Be- 
ware of rashness, but, with energy and sleepless vigilance, go forward 
and give us victories. Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. 



An Amusing Anecdote of a "Hen-Pecked Husband." 

When General Phelps took possession of Ship Island, 
near New Orleans, early in the war, it will be remembered 
that he issued a proclamation, somewhat bombastic in tone, 
freeing the slaves. To the surprise of many people, on 
both sides, the President took no official noticeof this move- 
ment. Some time had elapsed, when one day a friend took 




DOUGLAS MONUMENT. 
On the banks of Lake Michigan, near foot of 35th Street, Chicago, in the midst of 
a beautiful park. It is built of. granite from Hollowell, Me., with an altitude of 104 
feet, and at an expense of about $100,000. Douglas and Lincoln began public life 
together as members of the Illinois Legislature. Though differing in political faith, 
they were really life-long friends. 



WAR STORIES. 139 

him to task for his seeming indifference on so important a 
matter. 

" Well," said Mr. Lincoln, " I feel about that a good deal 
as a man whom I will call ' Jones,' whom I once knew, did 
about his wife. He was one of your -meek men, and had 
the reputation of being badly hen-pecked. At last, one day 
his wife was seen switching him out of the house. A day 
■or two afterward a friend met him in the street, and said: 
* Jones, I have always stood up for you, as you know; but 
I am not going to do it any longer. Any man who will 
stand quietly and tal^e a switching from his wife, deserves 
to be horsewhipped/' Jones looked up with a wink, patting 
his friend on the back. ' Now don't,' said he; ' why, it 
didn't hurt me any; and you've no idea what & power of 
good it did Sarah Ann V " 



Lincoln's Curt Reply to a Clergyman. 

No nobler reply ever fell from the lips of a ruler, than that 
uttered by President Lincoln in response to the clergyman 
who ventured to say, in his presence during the war, that 
he hoped " the Lord was on our side." 

" I am not at all concerned about that," replied Mr. Lin- 
coln, " for I know that the Lord is always on the side of 
the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that / 
and this nation should be on the Lord's side." 



A Short Practical Sermon. 



" On a certain occasion, two ladies, from Tennessee, came 
before the President, asking the release of their husbands, 
held as prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. They were 
put off until the following Friday, when they came again, 



140 LINCOLN STORIES. 

and were again put off until Saturday. At each of the in- 
terviews one of the ladies urged that her husband was a 
religious man. On Saturday, when the President ordered 
the release of the prisoner, he said to this lady: 

" ' You say your husband is a religious man ; tell him, 
when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge 
of religion, but that in my opinion the religion which sets 
men to rebel and fight against their Government, because, 
as they think, that Government does not sufficiently help 
some men to eat their bread in the sweat of other men's 
faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get 
to heaven.' " 



A Celebrated Case Settled w*.th Lincoln-like Celerity. 

The celebrated case of Franklin W. Smith and brother, 
was one of those which most largely helped to bring mili- 
tary tribunals into public contempt. Those two gentlemen 
were arrested and kept in confinement, their papers seized, 
their business destroyed, their reputation damaged, and a 
naval court-martial, " organized to convict," pursued them 
unrelentingly till a wiser and juster hand arrested the 
malice of their persecutors. It is known that President 
Lincoln, after full investigation of the case, annulled the 
whole proceedings, but it is ' remarkable that the actual 
record of his decision could never be obtained from the 
Navy Department. An exact copy being withheld, the fol- 
lowing was presented to the Boston Board of Trade as 
being very nearly the words of the late President: 

" Whereas, Franklin W. Smith had transactions with the Navy- 
Department to the amount of one million and a quarter of a million of 
dollars; and, whereas, he had the chance to steal a quarter of a million, 
and was only charged with stealing twenty-two hundred dollars — and 
the. question now is about his stealing a hundred — I don't believe he 
stole anything at all. Therefore, the record and findings are disap- 



WAR STORIES. 141 

yr-oved — declared null and void, and the defendants are fully dis- 
charged." 

" It would he difficult," says the New York Tribune, "to 
sum up the rights and wrongs of the business more briefly 
than that, or to find a paragraph more characteristically 
and unmistakably Mr. Lincoln's. 



Recollections of the War President by Judge William Johnston. 

I rendered, says Judge Johnston, Mr. Lincoln some 
service in my time. When I went to Washington I ob- 
served that among Congressmen, and others in high places, 
Mr. Lincoln had very few friends. Montgomery Blair was 
the only one I heard speak of him for a second term. This 
was about the middle of his first Administration. I went 
to Washington by way of Columbus, and G. Tod asked me 
to carry a verbal message to Mr. Lincoln, and that was to 
tell him that there were certain elements indispensable to 
the success of the war that would be seriously affected by 
any interference with McClellan. 

I suppose that the liberal translation of Tod's language 
would be thus : " I am keeping the Democratic soldiers in 
the field, and if McClellan is interfered with I shall not be 
able to do it." We all felt some trouble about it. McClellan 
had been relieved, and one bright moonlight night I saw 
a regiment, I suppose Pennsylvanians mostly, marching 
from the Capitol clown Pennsylvania Avenue, yelling at the 
top of their lungs, " Hurrah for Little Mac ! " and, making 
a pause before the White House, they kept up that bawling 
and hurrahing for McClellan. 

I went to see Mr. Lincoln early the next morning, and 
asked him if he had witnessed the performance on the pre- 
vious night. He said he had. I asked him what he thought 
of it. He said it was very perplexing. I told him I had 



142 LINCOLN STORIES. 

come to make a suggestion. I told him I would introduce 
him to a young man of fine talents and liberal education, 
who had lost an arm in the service, and I wanted him to 
tell one of his Cabinet Ministers to give that young man a 
good place in the Civil Service, and to avail himself of the 
occasion to declare that the policy of the Administration 
was, whenever the qualifications were equal, to give those 
who had been wounded or disabled in the service of the 
country the preference in the Civil Department. He said 
it was an idea he would like to think of, and asked me how 
soon I would wait upon him in the morning. I said any 
hour; and I went at 7 o'clock and found him in the hands 
of a barber. Says he: " I have been thinking about your 
proposition, and I have a question to ask you: Did you 
ever know Colonel Smith, of Rockford, 111. ?" I said I 
had an introduction to him when attending to the defense 
of Governor Bebb. " You know," said he, " that he was 
killed at Yicksburg; that his head was carried off by a 
shell. He was Postmaster, and his wife wants the place," 
and he inquired if that would come up to my idea; and 
thereupon he and I concocted a letter — I have the corre- 
spondence in my possession — to Postmaster General Blair r 
directing him to appoint the widow of Colonel Smith Post- 
mistress, in the room of her deceased husband, who had 
fallen in battle, and stating that in consideration of what 
was due to the men who were fighting our battles, he had 
made up his mind that the families of those who had fallen, 
and those disabled in the service, their qualifications being 
equal, should always have a preference in the Civil Service. 
I told him I was not personally acquainted with Blair, 
and he gave me a note of introduction to him with the let- 
ter. I told Blair that I proposed to take a copy of Mr. 
Lincoln's letter, which he had then made out by the clerk. 
I took the letter to the Chronicle office in Washington, in 



WAR STORIES. 143 

which paper it was published, and the next morning I 
jumped into an ambulance and went to the convalescing 
camp, where there were about 7,000 convalescents, a great 
many of them Ohio men, and when I made my appearance 
they called on me for a speech. I got upon a terrace and 
made them a few remarks, and, corning round to the old 
saw, " that Republics are always Ungrateful," I told them 
I could not vouch for the Republic, but 1 thought I could 
vouch for the chief man at the head of the Administration, 
and he had already spoken on that subject, and when I read 
Lincoln's letter the boys flung their hats into the ail and 
made the welkin ring for a long while. I hurried back to 
the city, and with a pair of shears cut out Lincoln's letter, 
and then attached some editorial remarks, and that letter 
went around, and I believe was published in every friendly 
newspaper in the United States. About that time Congress 
passed a resolution to the same effect, that those disabled 
in the military service of the country, wherever qualified, 
ought to have a preference over others. This may have 
been a small matter, but it made a marvelous impression 
on the armv. 



The Serpent in Bed With Two Children. 

A number of Kentuckians insisted that troops should 
not be sent through that state for the purpose of putting 
down the war in Tennessee. The President was hesitating 
what to do, and they were pressing immediate action. 

"I am," he said, "a good deal like the farmer who, re- 
turning to his home one Winter night, found his two sweet 
little boys asleep with a hideous serpent crawling over their 
bodies. He could not strike the serpent without wounding 
or killing the children, so he calmly waited until it had 
,-noved away. Now, I do not want to act in a hurry about 



144 LINCOLN STORIES. 

this matter; I don't want to hurt anybody in Kentucky; 
but I will get the serpent out of Tennessee. 

"And he did march through Kentucky, to the aid of 
Andrew Johnson's mountaineers." 



A Church Which God Wanted for the Union Soldiers. 

"Among the various applicants at the White House one 
day was a well-dressed lady, who came forward, without 
apparent embarrassment in her air of manner, and addressed 
the President. Giving her a very close and scrutinizing 
look, he said: 

" ' Well, madam, what can I do for you? ' 

" She proceeded to tell him that she lived in Alexandria; 
that the church where she worshiped had been taken for a 
hospital. 

" ' What church, madam?' Mr. Lincoln asked, in a quick, 
nervous manner. 

" ' The Church,' she replied ; ' and as there are 

only two or three wounded soldiers in it, I came to see if 
you would not let us have it, as we want it very much to 
worship God in.' 

" ' Madam, have you been to see the Post Surgeon at 
Alexandria about this matter?' 

"'Yes, sir; but we could do nothing with him.' 

" ' Well, we put him there to attend to just such busi- 
ness, and it is reasonable to suppose that he knows better 
what should be done under the circumstances than 1 do. 
See here: you say you live in Alexandria; probably you 
own property there. How much will you give to assist in 
building a hospital?' 

" ' You know, Mr. Lincoln, our property is very much 
embarrassed by the war; — so, really, I could hardly afford 
to give much for such a purpose.' 



WAR STORIES. 145 

" ' Well, madam, I expect we shall have another fight 
soon; and my candid opinion is, God wants that church 
for poor wounded Union soldiers, as much as He does for 
secesh people to worship in.' Turning to his table, he said, 
quite abruptly, ' You will excuse me; I can do nothing for 
you. Good-day, madam.' " 



How Lincoln Relieved Rosecrans. 

General James B. Steedman, familiarly known as " Old 
Chickamauga," relates the following: Some weeks after 
the disastrous battle of Chickamauga, while yet Chattanooga 
was in a state of siege, General Steedman was surprised 
one day to receive a telegram from Abraham Lincoln to 
come to Washington. Seeking out Thomas, he laid the 
telegram before him, and was instructed to set out at once. 
Repairing to the White House, he was warmly received by 
Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's first question was abrupt and 
to the point : 

" General Steedman, what is your opinion of General 
Rosecrans?" 

General Steedman, hesitating a moment, said: "Mr. 
President, I would rather not express my opinion of my 
superior officer." 

Mr. Lincoln said: " It is the man who does not want to 
express an opinion whose opinion I want. I am besieged 
on all sides with advice. Every day I get letters from army 
officers asking me to allow them to come to Washington to 
impart some valuable knowledge in their possession." 

" Well, Mr. President," said General Steedman, "you are 
the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and if you order me 
to speak I will do so." 

Mr. Lincoln said: " Then I will order an opinion." 

General Steedman then answered: "Since you com- 
10 



U6 LINCOLN STORIES. 

mand me, Mr. President, I will say General Rosecrans is a 
splendid man to command a victorious army." • 

u i>ut what kind of a man is he to command a defeated 
army ?" said Mr. Lincoln. 

General Steedman in reply said, cautiously: " I think 
there are two or three men in that army that would be 
better." 

Then, with his quaint humor, Mr. Lincoln propounded 
this question: " Who, besides yourself, General Steedman. 
is there in that army who would make a better com- 
mander?" 

General Steedman said promptly: "General George H. 
Thomas." 

u I am glad to hear you say so," said Mr. Lincoln, " that 
$e my own opinion exactly. But Mr. Stanton is against 
nim, and it was only yesterday that a powerful New York 
delegation was here to protest against his appointment be- 
cause he is from a Rebel State and can not be trusted." 

Said General Steedman: "A man who will leave his 
own state (Thomas was a Virginian), his friends, all his 
associations, to follow the flag of his country, can be trusted 
in any position to which he may be called." That night 
the order went forth from Washington relieving General 
Rosecrans of the command of the Army of the Cumber- 
land and appointing Thomas in his place. 



An Interesting Incident Connected With Signing the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation. 

" The roll containing the Emancipation Proclamation was 
taken to Mr. Lincoln at noon on the first day of January, 
1863, by Secretary Seward and his son Frederick. As it 
lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it 
in ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held 



WAR STORIES. 147 

it a moment, and then removed his hand and dropped the 
pen. After a little hesitation he again took np the pen and 
went through the same movement as before. Mr. Lincoln 
then turned to Mr. Seward, and said: 

" ' I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this 
morning, and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my 
name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my 
whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the 
Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will 
say, ' He hesitated.' 

" He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and 
slowly, firmly wrote ' Abraham Lincoln,' with which the 
whole world is now familiar. He then looked up, smiled, 
and said: ' That will do.'' " 



A Dream That Was Portentous — What Lincoln said to General 
Grant About It. 

At the Cabinet meeting held the morning of the dav of 
the assassination, it was afterward remembered, a remark- 
able circumstance occurred. General Grant was present, 
and during a lull in the discussion the President turned to 
him and asked if he had heard from General , Sherman. 
General Grant replied that he had not, but was in hourly 
expectation of receiving despatches from hiin announcing 
the surrender of Johnson. 

" Well," said the President, " you will hear very soon 
now, and the news will be important." 

" Why do you think so?" said the General. 

" Because," said Mr. Lincoln, "I had a dream last night; 
and ever since the war began, I have invariably had the 
same dream before any important military event occurred." 
He then instanced Bull Itun, Antietam, Gettysburg, etc., 
and said that before each of these events, he had had the 



148 LINCOLN STORIES. 

same dream; and turning to Secretary Welles, said: "It 
is in your line, too, Mr. Welles. The dream is, that I saw 
a ship sailing very rapidly; and I am sure that it portends 
some important national event." 

Later in the day, dismissing all business, the carriage was 
ordered for a drive. When asked by Mrs. Lincoln if he 
would like any one to accompany them, he replied: 
"No; I prefer to ride by ourselves to-day." 
Mrs. Lincoln subsequently said that she never saw him 
seem so supremely happy as on this occasion. In reply to 
a remark to this effect, the President said: 

. " And well I may feel so, Mary, for I consider this day 
the war has come to a close." And then added: "We 
must both be more cheerful in the future; between the war 
and the loss of our darling Willie, we have been very 
miserable." 



Lincoln and Judge Baldwin. 

" Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, 
called one day on General Halleck, and, presuming upon 
a familiar acquaintance in California a few years before, 
solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a brother in 
Virginia, not thinking that he would meet with a refusal, 
as both his brother and himself were good Union men. 

" ' We have been deceived too often,' said General Hal- 
leck, ' and I regret I can't grant it.' 

Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly 
disposed of, with the same result. Finally, he obtained an 
interview with Mr Lincoln, and stated his case. 

" ' Have you applied to General Halleck ?' inquired the 
President. 

" ' Yes, and met with a fiat refusal,' said Judge B. 



WAR STORIES. 149 

Kt 'Then you must see Stanton, 1 ' continued the President. 

" ' I have, and with the same result,' was the reply. 

" ' Well, then,' said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, ' I can do 
nothino-; for you must know that 1 have very little influ- 
ence with this Administration? " 



lincoln and Stanton Fixing up Peace Between the Two Con- 
tending Armies. 

" On the night of the 3d of. March, the Secretary of 
War, with others of the Cabinet, were in the company of 
the President, at the Capitol, awaiting the passage of the 
final bills of Congress. In the intervals of reading and 
signing these documents, the military situation was con- 
sidered—the lively conversation tinged by the confident and 
glowing account of General Grant, of his mastery of the 
position, and of his belief that a few days more would see 
Richmond in our possession, and the army of Lee either 
dispersed utterly or captured bodily— when the telegram 
from Grant was received, saying that Lee had asked an in- 
terview with reference to peace. Mr. Lincoln was elated, 
and the kindness of his heart was manifest in intimations 
of favorable terms to be granted to the conquered Rebels. 

" Stanton listened in silence, restraining his emotion, but 
at length the tide burst forth. ■ Mr. President,' said he, 
< to-morrow is inauguration day. If you are not to be the 
President of an obedient and united people, you had better 
not be inaugurated. Tour work is already done, if any 
other authority than yours is for one moment to be recog- 
nized, or any terms made that do not signify you are the 
supreme head of the nation. If generals in the field are to 
negotiate peace, or any other chief magistrate is to be 
acknowledged on this continent, then you are not needed, 
and you had better not take the oath of office.' 



150 LINCOLN STORIES. 

" ' Stanton you are right ! ' said the President, his whole 
tone changing. ' Let me have a pen.' 

" Mr. Lincoln sat down at the table, and wrote as fol- 
lows : 

" ' The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have 
no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's 
army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to 
say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political 
question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and 
will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. In the 
mean time you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.' 

"• The President read over what he had written, and then 
said : 

" ' Now, Stanton, date and sign this paper, and send 
it to Grant. We'll see about this peace business.' 

K The duty was discharged only too gladly by the ener- 
getic Secretary." 



The Merciful President. 

A personal friend of President Lincoln says : " I called 
on him one day in the early part of the war. He had just 
written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced 
to be shot, for sleeping at his post, as a sentinel. He re- 
marked as he read it to me : 

" ' I could not think of going into eternity with the blood 
of the poor young man on my skirts.' Then he added : 
1 It is not to be wondered at that a boy, raised on a farm, 
probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when 
required to watch, fall asleep; and I can not consent to 
shoot him for such an act.' " 

This story, with its moral, is made complete by Pev. 
Newman Hall, of London, who, in a sermon preached after 
and upon Mr. Lincoln's death, says that the dead body of 
this youth was found among the slain on the field of Fred- 



WAR STORIES. 151 

ericksburg, wearing next his heart a photograph of his pre- 
server, beneath which the grateful fellow had written, " God 
bless President Lincoln ! " 

From the same sermon another anecdote is gleaned, of a 
similar character, which is evidently authentic. An officer 
of the army, in conversation with the preacher, said : 

" The first week of my command, there were twenty-four 
deserters sentenced by court martial to be shot, and the 
warrants for their execution were sent to the President to 
be signed. He refused. I went to Washington and had an 
interview. I said : 

" ' Mr. President, unless these men are made an example 
of, the army itself is in danger. Mercy to the few is cruelty 
to the many.' 

" He replied : ' Mr. General, there are already too many 
weeping widows in the United States. For God's sake, 
don't ask me to add to the number, for I won't do it.' ' : 



No Mercy for the Man Stealer — Lincoln Uses Very Strong 
Language. 

Hon. John B. Alley, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was made 
the bearer to the President of a petition for pardon, by a 
person confined in the Newburyport jail for being engaged 
in the slave-trade. He had been sentenced to five years' 
imprisonment, and the payment of a fine of one thousand 
dollars. The petition was accompanied by a letter to Mr. 
Alley, in which the prisoner acknowledged his guilt and the 
justice of his sentence. He was very penitent— at least, on 
p a p er _ and had received the full measure of his punish- 
ment, so far as it related to the term of his imprisonment ; 
but he was still held because he could not pay his fine. Mr. 
Alley read the letter to the President, who was much moved 
by its pathetic appeals ; and when he had himself read the 



152 LINCOLN STOJUJSH. 

petition, he looked up and said : " My friend that is a very 
touching appeal to our feelings. You know my weakness 
is to be, if possible, too easily moved by appeals for mercy, 
and, if this man were guilty of the foulest murder that the 
arm of man could perpetrate, I might forgive him on such 
an appeal ; but the man who could go to Africa, and rob 
her of her children, and sell them into interminable bond- 
age, with no other motive than that which is furnished by 
dollars and cents, is so much worse than the most depraved 
murderer, that he can never receive pardon at my hands. 
No ! He may rot in jail before he shall have liberty by 
any act of mine." A sudden crime, committed under 
strong temptation, was venial in his eyes, on evidence of 
repentance ; but the calculating, mercenary crime of man- 
stealing and man-selling, with all the cruelties that are 
essential accompaniments of the business, could win from 
him, as an officer of the people, no pardon. 



A Touching Incident in the Life of Lincoln. 

A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stan- 
ton tendered his resignation of the War Department. He 
accompanied the act with a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lin- 
coln's constant friendship and faithful devotion to the coun- 
try; saying, also, that he as Secretary had accepted the pos- 
ition to hold it only until the war should end, and that now 
he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign. 

Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, 
and tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, 
and throwing his arms about the Secretary, he said: 

u Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful 
public servant, and it is not for you to say when you will 
no longer be needed here." Several friends of both parties 
were present on the occasion, and there was not a dry eye 
that witnessed the scene. 



WAR STORIES. 153 

The Great Thing About Gen. Grant as Lincoln Saw It. 
* Mr. Carpenter, the artist, made particular inquiry of the 
President, during the progress of the Battles of the Wil- 
derness, how General Grant personally in pressed him as 
compared to other officers of' the army, and especially those 
who had been in command. 

"The great thing about Grant," said he, " I take it, is 
his perfect coolness and persistency of purpose. I judge 
he is not easily excited, which is a great element in an offi- 
cer, and has the grit of a bull-dog ! Once let him get his 
' teeth ' in, and nothing can shake him off." 



Lincoln's Second Nomination— How He Associated it with a Very- 
Singular Circumstance— Lincoln Sees Two Images of 
Himself in a Mirror. 

It appeared that the dispatch announcing Lincoln's re- 
nomination for President had been sent to his office from 
the War Department while he was at lunch. Afterward, 
without going back to the official chamber, he proceeded to 
the War Department. While there, the telegram came in 
announcing the nomination of Johnson. 

"What ! " said he to the operator, "do they nominate a 
Yice-President before they do a President?" 

" Why! " rejoined the astonished official, " have you not 
heard of your own nomination? It was sent to the White 
House two hours ago." 

"It is all right," was the reply; " I shall probably find 
it on my return." 

Laughing pleasantly over this incident, he said, soon 
afterwards : "A very singular occurence took place the 
day I was nominated at Chicago, four years ago, of which 
I am reminded to-night. In the afternoon of the day, re- 
turning home from down town, I wont up-stairs to Mrs. 



154 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln's reading-room. Feeling somewhat tired, I lay 
down upon a couch in the room, directly opposite- a bureau 
upon which was a looking-glass. As I reclined, my eye 
fell upon the glass, and / saw distinctly two images of my- 
self , exactly alike, except that one was a little i^aler than 
the other. I arose, and lay down again, with the same result. 
It made me quite uncomfortable for a few moments, but 
some friends coming in, the matter passed out of my mind. 

" The next day. while walking in the street, I was sud- 
denly reminded of the circumstance, and the disagreeable 
sensation produced by it returned. I had never seen any- 
thing of the kind before, and did not know what to make 
of it. 

" I determined to go home and place myself in the same 
position, and if the same effect was produced, I would 
make up my mind that it was the natural result of some 
principle of refraction or optics which I did not under- 
stand, and dismiss it. I tried the experiment, with a like 
result; and, as I had said to myself, accounting for it on 
some principle unknown to me, it ceased to trouble me. 
But," said he, " some time ago, I tried to produce the same 
effect here, by arranging a glass and couch in the same 
position, without success." 

He did not say, at this time, that either he or Mrs. Lin- 
coln attached any omen to the phenomenon, but it is well 
known that Mrs. Lincoln regarded it as a sign that the 
President would be re-elected. 



How Lincoln Illustrated What Might Be Done With Jeff. Davis. 

One of the latest of Mr. Lincoln's stories, was told to a 
party of gentlemen, who, among the tumbling ruins of the 
Confederacy, anxiously asked " what he would do with Jeff. 
Davis?" 



WAR STORIES. 155 

"There was a boy in Springfield," replied Mr. Lincoln, 
" who saved up his money and bought a ' coon,' which, after 
the novelty wore off, became a great nuisance. 

" He was one day leading him through the streets, and 
had his hands full to keep clear of the little vixen, who had 
torn his clothes half off of him. At length he sat down 
on the curb-stone, completely fagged out. A man passing 
was stopped by the lad's disconsolate appearance, and asked 
the matter. 

" ' Oh,' was the only reply, < this coon is such a trouble 
to me.' 

« < Why don't you get rid of him, then ?' said the gentleman. 

" i Hush. n said the boy; ' don't you see he is gnawing his- 
rope off ? I am going to let him do it, and then I will go 
home and tell the folks that he got away from me. n " 



Lincoln's Cutting Reply to the Confederate Commission— His 
Story of " Root Hog or Die." 

At a so-called " peace conference " procured by the vol- 
untary and irresponsible agency of Mr. Francis P. Blair, 
which was held on the steamer River Queen, in Hampton 
Roads, on the 3d of February, 1805, between President 
Lincoln and Mr. Seward, representing the government, and 
Messrs. Alexander H. Stephens, J. A. Campbell and P. 
M. T. Hunter, representing the rebel confederacy, Mr. 
Hunter replied that the recognition of Jeff Davis' power 
was the first and indispensable step to peace; and, to illus- 
trate his point, he referred to the correspondence between 
King Charles the First and his Parliament, as a reliable 
precedent of a constitutional ruler treating with rebels. 
Mr. Lincoln's face wore that indescribable expression which, 
generally preceded his hardest hits ; and he remarked : 

" Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr. 



1156 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Seward, for he is posted in such things, and I don't profess 
to be ; but my only distinct recollection of the matter is 
that Charles lost his head ! " 

Mr. Hunter remarked, on the same occasion, that the 
slaves, always accustomed to work upon compulsion, under 
an overseer, would, if suddenly freed, precipitate not only 
themselves, but the entire society of the South, into irre- 
mediable ruin. ~No work would be done, but blacks and 
whites would starve together. The President waited for 
Mr. Seward to answer the argument, but, as that gentleman 
hesitated, he said : 

" Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great deal better about 
this matter than I, for you have always lived under the 
slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of 
the case, that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the 
name of Case, who undertook, a few years ago, to raise a 
very large herd of hogs. It was a great trouble to feed 
them ; and how to get around this was a puzzle to him. 
At length he hit upon the plan of planting an immense 
tield of potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he 
turned the whole herd into the field and let them have full 
Bwing, thus saving not only the labor of feeding the hogs, 
but that also of digging the potatoes ! Charmed with his 
sagacity, he stood one day leaning against the fence, count- 
ing his hogs, when a neighbor came along : 

" ' Well, well,' said he, ' Mr. Case this is all very fine. 
Your hogs are doing very well just now ; but you know 
■out here in Illinois the frost cuines early, and the ground 
freezes a foot deep. Then what are they going to do ? ' 

"This was a view of the matter which Mr. Case had not 
taken into account. Butchering time fur hogs was away on 
in December or January. He scratched his head and at 
length stammered: 'Well, it may come pretty hard on 
itheir snouts, but I don't see but it will be root hog or die/'" 



MISCELLANEOUS. 159 



MISCELLANEOUS ST ^ItfES. 



Attending Henry Ward Beecher's Church— What Lincoln said of 

Beecher. 

Mr. Nelson Sizer, one of the gallery ushers of Henry 
Ward Beecher's church in Brooklyn, told a friend that 
about the time of the Cooper Institute speech, Mr. Lin- 
coln was twice present at the morning services of that 
church. On the first occasion, he was accompanied by his 
friend, George B Lincoln, Esq., and occupied a prominent 
seat in the centre of the house. On a subsequent Sunday 
morning, not long afterwards, the church was packed, as 
usual, and the services had proceeded to the announcement 
of the text, when the gallery door at the right of the or^an- 
loft opened, and the tall figure of Mr. Lincoln entered, 
alone. Again in the city over Sunday, he started out by 
himself to find the church, which he reached considerably 
behind time. Every seat was occupied; but the gentle- 
manly usher at once surrendered his own, and, stepping 
back, became much interested in watching the effect of the 
sermon upon the western orator. As Mr. Beecher devel- 
oped his line of argument, Mr. Lincoln's body swayed for- 
ward, his lips parted, and he seemed at length entirely 
unconscious of his surroundings — frequently giving vent to 
his satisfaction, at a well-put point or illustration, with a 
kind of involuntary Indian exclamation — ^iigh!" — not 
audible beyond his immediate presence, but very expressive! 
Mr. Lincoln henceforward had a profound admiration for 
the talents of the famous pastor of Plymouth Church. He 
once remarked to the liev. Henry M. Field, of New York, 



160 LINCOLN STORIES. 

that " he thought there was not upon record, in ancient or 
modern biography, so productive a mind, as had been ex- 
hibited in the career of Henry "Ward Beecher !" 



Lincoln's Love for Little Tad. 

No matter who was with the President, or how intently 
absorbed, his little son Tad was always welcome. He almost 
always accompanied his father. Once on the way to Fortress 
Monroe, he became very troublesome. The President was 
much engaged in conversation with the party who accom- 
panied him, and he at length said: 

" Tad, if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any- 
more till we get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you a 
dollar." 

The hope of reward was effectual for a while in securing 
silence, but, boy-like, Tad soon forgot his promise, and wa& 
as noisy as ever. Upon reaching their destination, how- 
ever, he said, very promptly, " Father, I want my dollar." 

Mr. Lincoln turned to him with the inquiry: "Tad, do- 
you think you have earned it?" 

" Yes," was the sturdy reply. 

Mr. Lincoln looked at him half reproachfully for an in- 
stant, and then taking from his pocket-book a dollar note, 
he said : " "Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part 
of the oargain." 

While paying a visit to Commodore Porter at Fortress 
Monroe, on one occasion, an incident occurred, subsequently 
related by Lieutenant Braine, one of the officers on board 
the flag-ship, to the Eev. Dr. Ewer, of New York. Noticing 
that the banks of the river were dotted with Spring blos- 
soms, the President said, with the manner of one asking a 
special favor: " Commodore, Tad is very fond of flowers; 
— won't you let a couple of your men take a boat and go- 



MISCELLANEOUS. 1G1 

with him for an hour or two along shore, and gather a few? 
It will be a great gratification to him." 



An Interesting Story — Lincoln at the Five Points' House of In- 
dustry in New York. 

When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 1860, he felt a 
great interest in many of the institutions for reforming 
criminals and saving the young from a life of crime. 
Among others, he visited, unattended, the Five Points 7 
House of Industry, and the Superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school there gave the following account of the event: 

•' One Sunday morning, I saw a tall, remarkable-looking 
man enter the room and take a seat among us. He lis- 
tened with fixed attention to our exercises, and his coun- 
tenance expressed such genuine interest that I approached 
him and suggested that he might be willing to say some- 
thing to the children. He accepted the invitation with evi- 
dent pleasure; and, coming forward, began a simple address, 
which at once fascinated every little hearer and hushed the 
room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, 
and his tones musical with intent feeling. The little faces 
would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of 
warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke 
cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to 
close his remarks, but the imperative shout of 'Goon! 
Oh, do go on!' would compel him to resume. 

As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the 
stranger, and marked his powerful head and determined 
features, now touched into softness by the impressions of 
the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn some- 
thing more about him, and while he was quietly leaving the 
room I begged to know his name. He courteously replied: 
4 It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois.' " 
11 



162 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln and His New Hat. * 

Mr. G. B. Lincoln tells of an amusing circumstance 
which took place at Springfield soon after Mr. Lincoln's 
nomination in 1860. A hatter in Brooklyn secretly 
obtained the size of the future President's head, and made 
for him a very elegant hat, which he sent by his townsman, 
Lincoln, to Springfield. About the time it was presented, 
various other testimonials of a similar character had come 
in from different sections. Mr. Lincoln took the hat, and 
after admiring its texture and workmanship, put it on his 
head and walked up to a looking-glass. Glancing from the 
reflection to Mrs. Lincoln, he said, with his peculiar twinkle 
of the eye, " Well, wife, there is one thing likely to come 
out of this scrape, any how. "We are going to have some 
new clothes!" 



Lincoln's Feat at the Washington Navy Yard With an Axe. 

One afternoon during the Summer of 1S62, the President 
accompanied several gentlemen to the "Washington Navy 
Yard, to witness some experiments with a newly-invented 
gun. Subsequently the party went aboard of one of the 
steamers lying at the wharf. A discussion was going on 
as to the merits of the invention, in the midst of which Mr. 
Lincoln caught sight of some axes hanging up outside of 
the cabin. Leaving the group, he quietly went forward, 
and taking one down, returned with it, and said: 

" Gentlemen, you may talk about your ' Raphael repeat- 
ers ' and ' eleven-inch Dahlgrens;' but here is an institution 
which I guess I understand better than either of yon." 
"With that he held the axe out at arm's length by the end of 
the handle, or " helve," as the wood-cutters call it — a feat 
not another person of the party could perform, though all 
made the attempt. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 163 

In such acts as this, showing that he neither forgot nor 
was ashamed of his humble origin, the good President ex- 
hibited his true nobility of character. He was a perfect 
illustration of his favorite poet's words : 

" The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the gold, for a' that!" 



Lincoln's Failure as a Merchant — He, However, Six Years Later 
Pays the " National Debt." 

It is interesting to recall the fact that at one time Mr. 
Lincoln seriously took into consideration the project of 
learning the blacksmith's trade. He was without means, 
and felt the immediate necessity of undertaking some busi- 
ness that would give him bread. It was while he was en- 
tertaining this project that an event occurred which, in his 
undeterminded state of. mind, seemed to open a way to 
success in another quarter. 

A man named Ileuben Radford, the keeper of a small 
store in the Village of New Salem, had somehow incurred 
the displeasure of the Clary's Grove Boys, who had exer- 
cised their "regulating" prerogatives by irregularly break- 
ing in his windows. William G. Greene, a friend of young 
Lincoln, riding by Iiadford's store soon afterward, was 
hailed by him, and told that he intended to sell out. Mr. 
Greene went into the store, and, looking around, offered him 
at random four hundred dollars for his stock. The offer 
was immediately accepted. 

Lincoln happening in the next day, and being familiar 
with the value of the goods, Mr. Greene proposed to him 
to take an inventory of the stock, and see what sort of a 
bargain he had made. This he did, and it was found that 
the goods were worth six hundred dollars. Lincoln then 
made him an offer of a hundred and twenty-five dollars for 



164 LINCOLN STORIES. 

his bargain, with the proposition that he and a man named 
Berry, as his partner, should take his (Greene's) place in the 
notes given to Radford. Mr. Greene agreed to the arrange- 
ment, but Radford declined it, except on condition that 
Greene would be their security, and this he at last as- 
sented to. 

Berry proved to be a dissipated, trifling man, and the 
business soon became a wreck. Mr. Greene was obliged to 
go in and help Lincoln close it up, and not only do this 
but pay Radford's notes. All. that young Lincoln won 
from the store was some very valuable experience, and the 
burden of a debt to Greene which, in conversations with the 
latter, he always spoke of as the National debt. But this 
national debt, unlike the majority of those which bear the 
title, was paid to the uttermost farthing in after, years. 

Six years afterwards, Mr. Greene, who knew nothing of 
the law in such cases, and had not. troubled himself to in- 
cmire about it, and who had in the meantime removed to 
Tennessee, received notice from Mr. Lincoln that he was 
ready to pay him what he had paid for Berry — he (Lincoln), 
being legally bound to pay the liabilities of his partner. 



Funeral Services of Lincoln's Mother — The Old Pastor and 

Young Abraham — A Remarkable 

Service. 

Several months after the death of Lincoln's mother 
which occurred when he was but a few years old, child as 
he was, he wrote to Parson Elkin who had been their pas- 
tor when residing in Kentucky, begging him to come to 
Indiana, and preach her funeral sermon. 

This was asking a great favor of their former minister, 
for it would require him to ride on horseback a hundred 
miles through the wilderness; and it is something to be re- 



MISCELLANEOUS. 1G5 

membered to the humble itinerant's honor that he was will- 
ing to pay this tribute of respect to the woman who had so 
thoroughly honored him and his sacred office. He replied 
to Abraham's invitation, that he would preach the sermon 
on a, certain future Sunday, and gave him liberty to notify 
the neighbors of the promised service. 

As the appointed day approached, notice was given to 
the whole neighborhood, embracing every family within 
twenty miles. Neighbor carried the notice to neighbor. It 
was scattered from every little school. There was probably 
not a family that did not receive intelligence of the anx- 
iously-anticipated event. 

On a bright Sabbath morning, the settlers of the region 
started for the cabin of the Lincolns; and, as they gathered 
in, they presented a picture worthy the pencil of the 
worthiest painter. Some came in carts of the rudest con- 
struction, their wheels consisting of sections of the huge 
boles of forest trees, and every other member the product 
of the axe and auger; some came on horseback, two or 
three upon a horse; others came in wagons drawn by oxen, 
;and still others came on foot. Two hundred persons in all 
were assembled when Parson Elkin came out from the Lin- 
coln cabin, accompanied by the little family, and proceeded 
to the tree under which the precious dust of a wife and 
mother was buried. 

The congregation, seated upon stumps and logs around 
the grave, received the preacher and the mourning family 
in a silence broken only by the songs of birds, and the mur- 
mur of insects, or the creaking cart of some late comer. 
Taking his stand at the foot of the grave, Parson Elkin 
lifted his voice in prayer and sacred song, and then preached 
a sermon. 

The occasion, the eager faces around him, and all the 
sweet influences of the morning, inspired him with an un- 



166 LINCOLN STORIES. 

usual fluency and fervor; and the flickering sunlight, as it 
glanced through the wind-parted leaves, caught many a 
tear upon the bronzed cheeks of his auditors, while father 
and son were overcome bj T the revival of their great grief. 
He spoke of the precious Christian woman who had gone 
with the warm praise which she deserved, and held her up 
as an example of true womanhood. 

Those who knew the tender and reverent spirit of Abra- 
ham Lincoln later in life, will not doubt that he returned 
to his cabin-home deeply impressed by all that he had 
heard. It was the rounding up for him of the influences 
of a Christian mother's life and teachings. It recalled her 
sweet and patient example, her assiduous efforts to inspire 
him with pure and noble motives, her simple instructions 
in divine truth, her devoted love for him, and the motherly 
offices she had rendered him during all his tender years. 
His character was planted in this Christian mother's life. 
Its roots were fed by this Christian mother's love; and 
those that have wondered at the truthfulness and earnest- 
ness of his mature character, have only to remember that 
the tree was true to the soil from which it sprung. 



Something Concerning Mr. Lincoln's Religious Views. 

The Rev. Mr. Willets, of Brooklyn, gives an account of a 
conversation with Mr. Lincoln, on the part of a lady of his 
acquaintance, connected with the "Christian Commission,"" 
who in the prosecution of her duties had several interviews 
with him. 

The President, it seemed, had been much impressed with 
the devotion and earnestness of purpose manifested by the 
lady, and on one occasion, after she had discharged the 
object of her visit, he said to her : 

•• Mrs. , I h^ave formed a high opinion of your Chris- 



MISCELLANEOUS. 167 

tian character, and now, as we are alone, I have a mind to 
ask you to give me, in brief, jour idea of what constitutes 
a true religious experience." 

The lady replied at some length, stating that, in her 
judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's own sinful- 
ness and weakness, and personal need of the Saviour for 
strength and support; that views of mere doctrine might 
and would differ, but when one was really brought to feel 
his need of Divine help, and to seek the aid of the Holy 
Spirit for strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evidence 
of his having been born again. This was the substance of 
her reply. 

When she had concluded, Mr. Lincoln was very thought- 
ful for a few moments. He at length said, very earnestly, 
" If what you have told me is really a correct view of this 
great subject, I think I can say with sincerity, that I hope 
I am a Christian. 1 had lived," he continued, " until my 
boy Willie died, without realizing fully these things. That 
blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness as I 
had never felt it before, and if I can take what you have 
stated as a test, I think I can safely say that I know some- 
thing of that change of which you speak; and I will fur- 
ther add, that it has been my intention for some time, at a 
suitable opportunity, to make a public religious profession." 



Thurlow Weed's Recollections. 

In a letter to the Xew York Lincoln Club, Thurlow 
Weed remarks: I went to the Whig National Convention, 
at Chicago, in 1860, warmly in favor of and confidently ex- 
pecting the nomination of Governor Seward. That disap- 
pointment of long-cherished hopes was a bitter one. I then 
accepted, very reluctantly, an invitation to visit Mr. Lincoln 
at his residence in Springfield, where, in an interesting con- 



168 LINCOLN STORIES. 

versation, even while smarting under the sense of injustice 
to Mr. Seward, confidence in Mr. Lincoln's good sense, ca- 
pacity and fidelity was inspired. 

A campaign programme was agreed upon, and, returning 
to Albany, I went to work as zealously and as cheerfully as 
I should have done with Mr. Seward as our Presidential 
nominee. Mr. Lincoln's inauguration simultaneously in- 
augurated •rebellion. Events soon proved that the Chicago 
Convention had been wisely if not providentially guided. 
The country in its greatest emergency had, what it so 
greatly needed, the services of two, instead of one, of its 
greatest and best men. With Lincoln as President and 
Seward as Secretaiy of State, the right men were in the 
right places. 

With ample opportunities to study the character of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, I never hesitated in declaring that his sense 
of public and private duty and honor was as high and his 
patriotism as devoted as that of George Washington. 

Their names and their memories should descend to future 
generations as examples worthy of imitation. 



An Amusing Illustration. 

One of Mr. Lincoln's illustrations given by him on one 
occasion was that of a man who, in driving the hoops of a 
hogshead to "head " it up, was much annoyed by the con- 
stant falling in of the top. At length the bright idea 
struck him of putting his little boy inside to " hold it up." 
This he did; it never occurring to him till the job was 
done, how he was to get his child out. "'This,'' said Lin- 
coln, " is a fair sample of the way some people always do 
business P 



MISCELLANEOUS. 169 

A Couple of Good Stories — How Lincoln took His Altitude — 
A Prophetic Bowl of Milk. 

Soon after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency, 
the Executive Chamber, a large line room in the State 
m House at Springfield was set apart for him, where he met 
! the public until after his election. 

As illustrative of the nature of many of his calls, the 
following brace of incidents were related to Mr. Holland 
by an eye witness: " Mr. Lincoln, being seated in conversa- 
tion with a o-entleman one day, two raw. olainlv-dressed 
young 'Suckers ' entered the room, and bashfully lingered 
near the door. As soon as he observed them, and appre- 
hended their embarrassment, he rose and walked to them* 
saying, " How do you do, my good fellows ? What caw I 
•do for you ? Will you sit down ?" The spokesman of the 
pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and explained 
the object of the call thus: he had had a talk about the 
relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his companion, and had 
asserted his belief that they were of exactly the same height. 
He had come in to verify his judgment. Mr. Lincoln 
smiled, went and got his cane, and, placing the end of it 
upon the wall, said: 

"Here, young man, come under here." 

The young man came under the cane, as Mr. Lincoln held 
it, and when it was perfectly adjusted to his height, Mr. 
Lincoln said: 

" Now, come out, and hold up the cane." 

This he did while Mr. Lincoln stepped under. Rubbing 
his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under 
the measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the saga- 
cious fellow who was curiously looking on, that he had 
guessed with remarkable accuracy — that he and the young 
man were exactly of the same height. Then he shook hands 
-with them and sent them on their way. Mr. Lincoln would 



170 LINCOLN STORIES. 

just as soon have thought of cutting off his right hand ae> 
he would have thought of turning those boys away with the 
impression that they had in any way insulted his dignity.' 

They had hardly disappeared when an old and modestly- 
dressed woman made her appearance. She knew Mr. Lin- 
coln, but Mr. Lincoln did not at first recognize her. Then 
she undertook to recall to his memory certain incidents con- 
nected with his rides upon the circuit — especially his dining 
at her house upon the road at different times. Then he re- 
membered her and her home. Having fixed her own place 
in his recollection, she tried to recall to him a certain scanty 
dinner of bread and milk that he once ate at her house. He 
could not remember it — on the contrary, he only remem- 
bered that he had always fared well at her house. 

'• Well," said she, " one day you came along after we had 
got through dinner, and we had eaten up everything, and I 
could give you nothing but a bowl of bread and milk; and 
you ate it: and when you got up you said it was good 
enough for the President of the United States!" 

The good woman had come in from the country- 
making a journey of eight or ten miles, to relate to Mr. 
Lincoln this incident, which, in her mind, had doubtless 
taken the form of prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed the hon- 
est creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and 
dismissed her in the most happy and complacent frame of 
mind. 



Lincoln's Love for the Little Ones. 

Soon after his election as President and while visiting 
Chicago, one evening at a social gathering Mr. Lincoln saw 
a little girl timidly approaching him. He at once called 
her to him, and asked the little girl what she wished. 

She replied that she wanted his name. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 173 

Mr. Lincoln looked back into the room and said : " But 
here are other little girls — they would i'eel badly if I should 
give my name only to you." 

The little girl replied that there were eight of them in all. 

"Then,"' said Mr. Lincoln, '-get me eight sheets of paper, 
and a pen and ink, and I will see what I can do tor you." 

The paper was brought, and Mr. Lincoln sat down in the 
crowded drawing-room, and wrote a sentence upon each 
sheet, appending his name; and thus every little girl car- 
ried off her souvenir. 

During the same visit and while giving a reception at one 
of the hotels, a fond father took in a little boy by the hand 
who was anxious to see the new President. The moment 
the child entered the parlor door he, of his own accord and 
quite to the surprise of his father, took off his hat, and, giv- 
ing it a swing, cried: " Hurrah for Lincoln ! " There was 
a crowd, but as soon as Mr. Lincoln could get hold of the 
little fellow, he lifted him in his hands, and, tossing him 
towards the ceiling, laughingly shouted: "Hurrah for 
you ! " 

It was evidently a refreshing incident to Lincoln in the- 
dreary work of hand-shaking. 



An Interesting Anecdote of Lincoln Related by Rev. J. P. Gulliver. 

On the morning following Lincoln's speech, in Norwich, 
Conn., Mr. Gulliver met Mr. Lincoln upon a train of cars, 
and entered into conversation with him. In speaking of 
his speech, Mr. Gulliver remarked to Mr. Lincoln that he 
thought it the most remarkable one he ever heard. 

" Are you sincere in what you say? " inquired Mr. Lin- 
coln. 

" I mean every word of it," replied the minister. " In- 
deed, sir," he continued, " I learned more of the art of 



174 LINCOLN STORIES. 

public speaking last evening than I could from a whole 

course of lectures on rhetoric." 

■ 

Then Mr. Lincoln informed him of " a most extraordinary 
circumstance " that occurred at Xew Haven a few days 
previously. A professor of rhetoric in Yale College, he 
had been told, came to hear him, took notes of his speech, 
and gave a lecture on it to his class the following day; and, 
not satisfied with that, followed him to Meriden the next 
evening, and heard him again for the same purpose. All 
this seemed to Mr. Lincoln to be '' very extraordinary." 
He had been sufficiently astonished by his success at the 
the West, but he had no expectation of any marked success 
at the East, particularly among literary and learned men. 

" Now," said Mr. Lincoln, " I should very much like to 
.know what it was in my speech which you thought so re- 
markable, and which interested my friend the professor so 
much ? " 

Mr. Gulliver's answer was, ' ; The clearness of your 
statements, the unanswerable style of your reasoning, and, 
especially, your illustrations, which were romance and 
pathos and fun and logic all welded together." 

After Mr. Gulliver had fully satisfied his curiosity by a 
further exposition of the politician's peculiar power, Mr. 
Lincoln said: 

" I am much obliged to you for this. I have been wish- 
ing: for a lonor time to find some one who would make this 
analysis for me. It throws light on a subject which has 
been dark to me. I can understand very readily how such 
a power as you have ascribed to me will account for the 
effect which seems to be produced by my speeches. I hope 
you have not been too flattering in your estimate. Cer- 
tainly, I have had a most wonderful success for a man of 
my limited education." i 



MISCELLANEOUS. 175 

A Lincoln Story about Little Dan Wc-br.ter's Soiled Hands!— How- 
Dan Escaped a Flogging. 

Mr. Lincoln, on one occasion narrated to Hon. Mr. 
Odell and others, with much zest, the following story about 
young Daniel Webster : 

When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty 
of a gross violation of the rules. He was detected in the 
act, and called up by the teacher for punishment. This was 
to be the old-fashioned "feruling" of the hand. His 
hands happended to be very dirty. Knowing this, on his 
way to the teacher's desk, he spit upon the palm of his right 
hand, wiping it off upon the side of his pantaloons. 

" Give me your hand, sir," said the teacher, very sternly. 

Out went the right hand, partly cleansed. The teacher 
looked at it a moment, and said: 

" Daniel! if you will find another hand in this school-room 
as filthy as that, I will let you off this time!" 

Instantly from behind his back came the left hand. 
" Here it is, sir," was the ready reply. 

" That will do," said the teacher, "for this time; you can 
take your seat, sir." 



Lincoln and the Little Baby— A Touching Story. 

" Old Daniel," who was one of the White House ushers, 
is responsible for the following touching story: 

A poor woman from Philadelphia had been waiting with 
a baby in her arms for several days to see the President. 
It appeared by her story, that her husband had furnished a 
substitute for the army, but sometime afterward, in a state 
of intoxication, was induced to enlist. Upon reaching the 
post assigned his regiment, he deserted, thinking the gov- 
ernment was not entitled to his services. Returning home, 
he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be shot. 



176 LINCOLN STORIES. 

The sentence was to be executed on a Saturday. On 
Monday his wife left her home with her baby, to endeavor 
to see the President. 

Said Daniel, "• She had been waiting here three days, and 
there was no chance for her to get in. Late in the afternoon 
of the third day, the President was going through the passage 
to his private room to get a cup of tea. On the way he 
heard the baby cry. He instantly went back to his office 
and rang the bell. 

" Daniel," said he, " is there a woman with a baby in the 
ante-room?" 

I said there was, and if he would allow me to say it, it 
was a case he ought to see; for it was a matter of life and 
death. 

Said he, " Send her to me at once." 

She went in, told her story, and the President pardoned 
her husband. 

As the woman came out from his presence, her eyes were 
lifted and her lips moving in prayer, the tears streaming 
down her cheeks." 

Said Daniel, " I went up to her, and pulling her shawl,, 
said, ' Madam, it was the baby that did it? " 



D. L. Moody's Story of Lincoln's Compassion — What a Little Girl 
Did with Mr. Lincoln to Save Her Brother. 

During the war, says D. L. Moody, I remember a young- 
man, not twenty, who was court-martialed at the front 
and sentenced to be shot. The story was this: The young 
fellow had enlisted. He was not obliged to, but he went 
off with another young man. They were what we would 
call "chums." One night his companion was ordered out 
on picket duty, and he asked the young man to go for him. 
The next night he was ordered out himself; and having 



MISCELLANEOUS. 177 

been awake two nights, and not being used to it, fell asleep 
at his post, and for the offense he was tried and sentenced to 
death. It was right after the order issued by the President 
that no interference would be allowed in cases of this kind. 
This sort of thing had become too frequent, and it must be 
stopped. When the news reached the father and mother in 
Yermont it nearly broke their hearts. The thought that 
their son should be shot was too great for them. They had 
no hope that he would be saved by anything they could do. 
But they had a little daughter who had read the life of 
Abraham Lincoln, and knew how he had loved his own; 
children, and she said : " If Abraham Lincoln knew how 
my father and mother loved my brother he wouldn't let him 
be shot." That little girl thought this matter over and 
made up her mind to see the President. She went to the 
"White House, and the sentinel, when he saw her imploring 
looks, passed her in, and when she came to the door and 
told the private secretary that she wanted to see the Presi- 
dent, he could not refuse her. She came into the chamber 
and found Abraham Lincoln surrounded by his generals 
and counselors, and when he saw the little country girl he 
asked her what she wanted. The little maid told her plain, 
simple story — how her brother, whom her father and 
mother loved very dearly, had been sentenced to be shot ; 
how they were mourning for him, and if he was to die in 
that way it would break their hearts. The President's 
heart was touched with compassion, and he immediately 
sent a dispatch canceling the sentence and giving the boy a 
parole so that he could come home and see t^at father and 
mother. I just tell you this to show you how Abraham 
Lincoln's heart was moved by compassion for the sorrow of 
that father and mother, and if he showed so much do you 
think the Son of God will not have compassion upon you, 
sinner, if you only take that crushed, bruised heart to Him I 
12 



178 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln Joking Douglas— A Splendid " Whisky Cask." 

On one occasion, when Lincoln and Douglas were "stump- 
ing" the State of Illinois together as political opponents, 
Douglas, who had the first speech, remarked that in early- 
life, his father, who he said was an excellent cooper by 
trade, apprenticed him out to learn the cabinet business. 

This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his 
turn came to reply, he said : 

" I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been 
bound out to learn the cabinet-making business, which is 
all well enough, but I was not aware until now that his 
father was a cooper. I have no doubt, however, that he was 
one, and I am certain, also, that he was a very good one, 
for ( here Lincoln gently bowed toward Douglas ) he has 
made one of the best whisky casks I have ever seen" 

As Douglas was a short heavy-set man, and occasionally 
imbibed, the pith of the joke was at once apparent, and 
most heartily enjoyed by all. 

On another occasion, Douglas in one of his speeches, 
made a strong point against Lincoln by telling the crowd 
that when he first knew Mr. Lincoln he was a u grocery- 
keeper, " and sold whisky, cigars, etc. "Mr. L.," he said, 
"was a very good bar-tender! '" This brought the laugh 
on Lincoln, whose reply, however, soon came, and then the 
laugh was on the other side. 

" What Mr. Douglas has said, gentlemen," replied Mr. 
Lincoln, "is true enough; I did keep a grocery and I did 
sell cotton, candles and cigars, and sometimes whisky; but 
I remember in those days that Mr. Douglas was one of my 
best customers ! 

" Many a time have I stood on one side of the counter and 
sold whisky to Douglas on the other side, but the difference 
between us now is this: I have left my side of the counter, 
but Mr. Douglas still sticks to his as tenaciously as ever ! " 



MISCELLANEOUS. 179 

Lincoln's Life as Written by Himself — The Whole Thing in a 

Nut Shell. 

The compiler of the u Dictionary of Congress " states 
that while preparing that work for publication in 185S, he 
sent to Mr. Lincoln the usual request for a sketch of his 
life, and received the following reply : 

" Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County^ Ken- $*JU 
tucky." yU~utf,-n)& 

" Education Defective." " Profession a Lawyer" " Have &(2*£2 ~rl 
been a Captain of Volunteers in Black Hawk War." T^fA / 3 
" Postmaster at a very small office." " Four times a member , al h* 

of the Illinois Legislature, and was a member of the _i_J5 — 

Lower House of Congress." Yours, etc. ^\P 

\<\k 



A. Lincoln." 



How Lincoln Won a Case from his Partner — Laughable Toilet 

Ignorance. 

While Judge Logan, of Springfield, 111., was Lincoln's 
partner, two farmers, who had a misunderstanding respect- 
ing a horse trade, went to law. By mutual consent the 
partners in law became antagonists in this case. On the 
day of the trial Mr. Logan, having bought a new shirt, 
open in the back, with a huge standing collar, dressed him- 
self in extreme haste, and put on the shirt with the bosom 
at the back, a linen coat concealing the blunder. He dazed 
the jury with his knowledge of " horse points." and as the 
day was sultry, took off his coat and summed up in his 
shirt-sleeves. 

Lincoln sitting behind him, took in the situation, and 
when his turn came, remarked to the jury: 

" Gentlemen, Mr. Logan has been trying for over an hour 
to make you believe he knows more about a horse than 
these honest old farmers who are witnesses. He has quoted 



180 LINCOLN STORIES. 

largely from his ' horse doctor,' and now, gentlemen, I sub- 
mit to you, (here he lifted Logan out of his chair, and 
turned him with his back to the jury and the crowd, at the 
same time flipping up the enormous standing collar) what 
dependence can you place in his horse knowledge when he 
has not sense enough to put on his shirt ? " 

The roars of laughter that greeted this exhibition, and 
the verdict that Lincoln got soon after, gave Logan a per- 
manent prejudice against "bosom shirts." 



Little Lincoln Stories. 

An old Englishman who resided in Springfield, Ills., 
hearing the results of the Political Convention at Chicago, 
could not contain his astonishment. " What ! " said he, 
" Abe Lincoln nominated for President of the United 
States ? Can it be possible ! A man that buys a ten cent 
beef-steak for his breakfast, and carries it home himself! n 

Mr. Lincoln being asked by a friend how he felt when the 
returns came in that insured his defeat, replied that " he 
felt, he supposed, very much like the stripling who had 
stumped his toe; too badly to laugh and too big to cry? 

A young man bred in Springfield speaks of a vision that 
has clung to his memory very vividly, of Mr. Lincoln as he 
appeared in those days. His way to school led by the 
lawyer's door. On almost any fair summer morning, he 
could find Mr. Lincoln on the sidewalk, in front of his 
house, drawing a child back and forth, in a baby carriage. 

Mr. Lincoln never made his profession lucrative to him- 
self. It was very difficult for him to charge a heavy fee to 
anybody, and still more difficult for him to charge his 
friends anything at all for professional services. To a poor 



MISCELLANEOUS. 181 

client, he was quit'.; as apt to give money as to take it from 
him. He never encouraged the spirit of litigation. Henry 
McHenry, one of his old clients, says that he went to Mr. 
Lincoln with a case to prosecute, and that Mr. Lincoln 
refused to have anything to do with it, because he was not 
strictly in the right. " You can give the other party a 
great deal of trouble," said the lawyer, " and perhaps beat 
him, but you had better let the suit alone." 

From the original manuscript of one of Mr. Lincoln's 
speeches, these words are transferred: "Twenty-two years 
ago, Judge Douglas and I first became acquainted. We were 
both young then — he a trifle younger than I. Even then 
we were both ambitious, — I, perhaps, quite as much so as 
he. With me, the race of ambition has been a failure — a 
flat failure; with him, it has been one of splendid success. 
His name fills the nation, and is not unknown even in for- 
eign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he 
has reached. So reached that the oppressed of my species 
might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather 
stand on that eminence than wear the richest crown that 
ever pressed a monarch's brow." , 

In one of Lincoln's early speeches against slavery he 
said : " My distinguished friend (Stephen A. Douglas) says, 
it is an insult to the emigrants to Kansas and Nebraska to 
suppose they are not able to govern themselves. We must 
not slur over an argument of this kind because it happens 
to tickle the ear. It must be met and answered. I admit 
that the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to 
govern himself, but (the speaker rising to his full height), 
I deny his right to govern any other person without that 
person's consent." That touched the very marrow of the 
matter, and revealed the whole difference between Lincoln 
and Douglas. 



.82 LINCOLN STORIES. 

Lincoln's Last Story and Last Written Words and Con- 
versations. 

The last story told by Mr. Lincoln was drawn out by a 
circumstance which occurred just before the interview with 
Messrs. Colfax and Ashmun, on the evening of his assassin- 
ation. 

Marshal Lamon, of "Washington, had called upon him 
with an application for the pardon of a soldier. After a 
brief hearing the President took the application, and, when 
about to write his name upon the back of it, he looked up 
and said : 

" Lamon, have you ever heard how the Patagomans eat 
oysters? They open them and throw the shells out of the 
window until the pile gets higher than the house, and then 
they move;" adding: 

' I feel to-day like commencing a new pile of pardons, 
and I may as well begin it just here." 

At the subsequent interview with Messrs. Colfax and 
Ashmun, Mr. Lincoln was in high spirits. The uneasiness 
felt by his friends during his visit to Richmond was dwelt 
upon, when he sportively replied that he "supposed he 
should have been uneasy also, had any other man been Pres- 
ident and gone there; but as it was, he felt no apprehension 
of danger whatever." Turning to Speaker Colfax, he 
said : 

" Sumner has the ' gavel ' of the Confederate Congress, 
which he got at Richmond, and intended giving it to the 
Secretary of War, but I insisted he must give it to you, 
and you tell him from me to hand it over." 

Mr. Ashmun, who was the presiding officer of the Chi- 
cago Convention in 1860, alluded to the " gavel " used on 
that occasion, saying he had preserved it as a valuable 
memento. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 183 

Mr. Ashmun then referred to a matter of business con- 
nected with a cotton claim, preferred by a client of his, and 
said that he desired to have a " commission " appointed to 
examine and decide upon the merits of the case. Mr. Lin- 
coln replied, with considerable warmth of manner, "I have 
done with ' commissions.' I believe they are contrivances 
to cheat the Government out of every pound of cotton they 
can lay their hands on." Mr. Ashmun's face flushed, and 
he replied that he hoped the President meant no personal 
imputation. 

Mr. Lincoln saw that he had wounded his friend, and he 
instantly replied: " You did not understand me, Ashmun. 
I did not mean what you inferred. I take it all back." 
Subsequently he said: " I apologize to you, Ashmun." 

He then engaged to see Mr. Ashmun early the next morn- 
ing, and, taking a card, he wrote : 

" Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come in at 9 A. M. to-morrow. 

A. Lincoln." 

These were his last written words. Turning to Mr. Col- 
fax he said : k ' You will accompany Mrs. Lincoln and me 
to the theatre, I hope?" Mr. Colfax pleaded other engage- 
ments—expecting to start on his Pacific trip the next morn- 
ing. The party passed out on the portico together, the 
President saying at the very last : 

" Colfax, don't forget to tell the people of the mining 
regions what I told you this morning about the develop- 
ment when peace comes;" then shaking hands with both 
gentlemen, he followed Mrs. Lincoln into the carriage, lean- 
ing forward, at the last moment, to say as they were driven 
off, "I will telegraph you, Colfax, at San Francisco,"— 
passing thus forth for the last time from under that roof 
into the creeping shadows which were to settle before an- 
other dawn into a funeral nail upon the orphaned heart of 
the nation. 



184 LINCOLN STORIES 

Abraham Lincoln's Death — Walt Whitman's Vivid Description of 
the Scene at Ford's Theatre. 

The day (April 14, 1865,) seems to have been a pleasant 
one throughout the whole land — the moral atmosphere 
pleasant, too — the long storm, so dark, so fratricidal, full of 
blood and doubt and gloom, over and ended at last by the 
sunrise of such an absolute National victory, and utter 
breaking down of secessionism — we almost doubted our 
senses! Lee had capitulated beneath the apple tree at 
Appommatox. The other armies, the flanges of the revolt, 
swiftly followed. 

And could it really be, then? Out of all the affairs of 
this world of woe and passion, of failure and disorder and 
dismay, was there really come the confirmed, unerring sign 
of peace, like a shaft of pure light — of rightful rule — of 
God? 

But I must not dwell on accessories. The deed hastens. 
The popular afternoon paper, the little Evening Star, had 
scattered all over its third page, divided among the adver- 
tisements in a sensational manner in a hundred different 
places: " The President and his lady will be at the theatre 
this evening." Lincoln was fond of the theatre. I have 
myself seen him there several times. I remember thinking 
how funny it was that he, in some respects the leading 
actor in the greatest and stormiest drama known to real 
history's stage, through centuries, should sit there and be 
so completely interested in those human jack-straws, moving 
about with their silly little gestures, foreign spirit, and flat- 
ulent text. 

So the day, as I say, was propitious. Early herbage, 
early flowers, were out. I remember where I was stopping 
at the time, the season being advanced, there were many 
lilacs in full bloom. By one of those caprices that enter 
and give tinge to events without being at all a part of them, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 185 

I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy of that 
day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never 
fails. 

On this occasion the theatre was crowded, many ladies in 
rich and gay costumes, officers in their uniforms, many 
well-known citizens, young folks, the usual clusters of gas- 
lights, the usual magnetism of so many people, cheerful, 
with perfumes, music of violins and flutes — and over all, 
and saturating, that vast, vague wonder, Yictory, the Nation's 
victory, the triumph of the Union, filling the air, the 
thought, the sense, with exhilaration more than all perfumes. 

The President came betimes, and, with his wife, witnessed 
the. play, from the large stage boxes of the second tier, two 
thrown into one, and profusely draped with the National 
flag. The acts and scenes of the piece— one of those sin- 
gularly witless compositions which have at least the merit 
of o-iving entire relief to an audience engaged in mental 
action or business excitements and cares during the day, as 
it makes not the slightest call on either the moral, emo- 
tional, esthetic or spiritual nature— a piece (" Our Ameri- 
can Cousin ") in which, among other characters so called, 
a Yankee, certainly such a one as was never seen, or at least 
like it ever seen in North America, is introduced in Eng- 
land, with a varied fol-de-rol of talk, plot, scenery, and such 
phantasmagoria as goes to make up a modern popular 
drama— had progressed through perhaps a couple of its 
acts, when in the midst of this comedy, or tragedy, 
or non-such, or whatever it is to be called, and to offset it, 
or finish it out, as if in Nature's and the Great Muse's 
mockery of these poor mimies, comes interpolated that 
scene, not really or exactly to be described at all (for on the 
many hundreds who were there it seems to this hour to 
have left little but a passing blur, a dream, a blotch)— and 
yet partially to be described as I now proceed to give it: 



186 LINCOLN STORIES. 

There is a scene in the play representing the modem 
parlor, in which two unprecedented English ladies are in- 
formed by the unprecedented and impossible Yankee that 
he is not a man of fortune, and therefore undesirable for 
marriage catching purposes; after w T hich, the comments 
being finished, the dramatic trio make exit, leaving the 
stage clear for a moment. There was a pause, a hush, as 
it were. At this period came the murder of Abraham 
Lincoln. Great as that w as ^ with all its manifold train 
circling around it, and stretching into*the future for many 
a century, in the politics, history, art, etc., of the New 
World, in point of fact, the main thing, the actual murder, 
transpired with the quiet and simplicity of any commonest 
occurrence — the bursting of a bud or pod in the growth of 
vegetation, for instance. 

Through the general hum following the stage pause, with 
the change of positions, etc., came the muffled sound of a 
pistol shot, which not one-hundredth part of the audience 
heard at the time — and yet a moment's hush — somehow, 
surely a vague, startled thrill — and then, through the or- 
namented, draperied, starred, and striped space-way of the 
President's box, a sudden figure, a man, raises himself with 
hands and feet, stands a moment on the railing, leaps below 
to the stage (a distance of perhaps of 14 or 15 feet), falls 
out of position catching his boot-heel in the copious drapery 
(the American flag), falls on one knee, quickly recovers 
himself, rises as if nothing had happened (he really sprains 
his ankle, but unfelt then) — and the figure, Booth, the 
murderer, dressed in plain black broadcloth, bare-headed, 
with a full head of glossy, raven hair, and his eyes, like 
some mad animal's flashing with light and resolution, vet 
with a certain strange calmness, holds aloft in one hand a 
large knife — walks along not much back of the foot-lights 
— turns fully towards the audience his face of statuesque 



MISCELLANEOUS. 187 

beauty, lit by those basilisk eyes, flashing with desperation, 
perhaps insanity — launches out in a firm and steady voice 
the words Sic Semper Tyrannis — and then walks with 
neither slow nor very rapid pace diagonally across to the 
back of the stage, and disappears. (Had not all this terri- 
ble scene — making the mimic ones preposterous — had it 
not all been rehearsed, in blank, by Booth, beforehand?) 

A moment's hush, incredulous — a scream — the cry of 
murder — Mrs. Lincoln leaning out of the box, with ashy 
cheeks and lips, with involuntary cry. pointing to the retreat- 
ing figure, " He has killed the President." And still a 
moment's strange, incredulous suspense — and then the del- 
uge! — then that mixture of horror, noises, uncertainty — (the 
sound, somewhere back, of a horse's hoofs clattering with 
speed) the people burst through chairs and railings, and 
break them up — that noise adds to the queerness of the 
scene — there is extricable confusion and terror — women 
faint — quite feeble persons fall, and are trampled on — many 
cries of agony are heard — the broad stage suddenly fills to 
suffocation with a dense and motley crowd, like some horri- 
ble carnival — the audience rush generally upon it — at least 
the strong men do — the actors and actresses are there in 
their play costumes and painted faces, with moral fright 
showing through the rouge — some trembling, some in tears 
the screams and calls, confused talk — redoubled, trebled — 
two or three manage to pass up water from the stage to the 
President's box — others try to clamber up — etc., etc. 

In the midst of all this the soldiers of the President's 
Guard, with other-, suddenly drawn to the scene, burst in 
— some 200 altogether — they storm the house, through all 
the tiers, especially the upper ones — inflamed with fury, 
literally charging the audience with fixed bayonets, muskets 
and pistols, shouting "Clear out! clear out! — you sons of 



188 LINCOLN STORIES. 

b — !" Snsli the wild scene, or a suggestion of it rather, 
inside the play house that night. 

Outside, too, in the atmosphere of shock and craze, crowds 
of people, filled with frenzy, ready to seize any outlet for 
it, came near committing murder several times on inno- 
cent individuals. One such case \\*as especially exciting. 
The infuriated crowd, through some chance, got started 
against one man, either for words he uttered, or perhaps 
without any cause at all, and were proceeding at once to 
hang him on a neighboring lamp-post, when he was rescued 
by a few heroic policemen, who placed him in their midst 
and fought their way slowly and amid great peril toward 
the station house. It was a fitting episode of the whole 
aiFair. The crowd rushing and eddying to and fro — the 
night, the yells, the pale faces, many frightened people try- 
ing in vain to extricate themselves — the attacked man, not 
yet freed from the jaws of death, looking like a corpse — the 
silent, resolute half dozen policemen, with no weapons but 
their little clubs, yet stern and steady through all those 
eddying swarms — made indeed a fitting side scene to the 
grand tragedy of the murder. They gained the station 
house with the protected man, whom they placed in 
security for the night, and discharged him in the morning. 

And in the midst of that night pandemonium of sense- 
less hate, infuriated soldiers, the audience and the crowd — 
the stage, and all its actors aud actresses, its paint pots, 
spangles and gaslight — the life blood from those veins, the 
best and sweetest of the land, drips slowly down, and 
death's ooze already begins its little bubbles on the lips. 

Such, hurriedly sketched, were the accompaniments of 
the death of President Lincoln. So suddenly, and in mur- 
der and horror unsurpassed, he was taken from us. But 
his death was painless. 

THE END. 



TIECIE] 



.A. NETK7" INVENTION 



THAT ENABLES 



e^ 



^£> 



TO HEAR THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE TEETH, AND THE 
DEAF AND DUMB TO HEAR AND LEARN TO SPEAK. 




A Class of Deaf Mutes Lis e ling to Music for the First Time, by aid of the Audi phone. 
(From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Dec. 13, 1879.) 



Invented by EICHAED S. EHODES, Chicago, 111. 



SOLD ONLY BY 

RHODES & McOLURE, 

Methodist Church Block, Chicago. 

18SO. 




A Young Lady prom Washington Heights Deaf and Dumb Insti- 
tute, New York City, Hearing her Own Voice for the First 

T7ME. 



THE AUDIPHONE. 



GOOD NEWS FOB THE DEAF. 



An Instrument that enables the Deaf to Hear with Ease through 

the Medium of the Teeth, and the Deaf and Dumb 

to Hear and Learn to Speak. 



INVENTED BY R. S. RHODES, CHICAGO, ILLS. 



The Audiphone resembles a fan, It is made of a peculiar composi- 
tion, that, like a telephone diaphragm, gathers the faintest sounds and 
conveys them, through the medium of the teeth and 
auditory nerve, to the brain. 

When in use the instrument is strung, or bent, to 
the proper tension and its upper edge is pressed 
against the edge of the upper teeth. See Figs. 1, 2, 3. / \ 






v . Fig. 3. The Audiphone 

fig. 1. 1 he Audiphone Fig. 2. The Audiphone properly adjusted to the 

in i ts natural position ; in tension ; the proper upper teeth ; ready for 

used as a fan. position for hearing. use. (Side view.) 

With ordinarily good upper teeth and auditory nerve the Audiphone 
gives good satisfaction. With artificial teeth, if they fit firmly, it gives 
good results. 

Care should be taken, in all cases, to adjust the instrument properly. 

Persons not accustomed to hearing articulate sounds, or who, 
by the use of ear trumpets, have become accustomed to unnatural sound, 
will generally require a little practice before they get the full benefit of 
the instrument. 

In all cases the result improves as the instrument is used. Its usa 
also improves the natural sense of hearing. 



2 THE AUDIPHONE. 

FROM PERSONS USING THE AUDIPHONE. 

The following testimony is in all respects authentic, and in every 
instance has come to Rhodes & McClure, unsolicited. The same is 
also true concerning the notices " From the Press." 



* I hear ordinary conversation with ease, and it is a wonder to me every time I use it. 
Sounds that I had not heard for years and had quite forgotten came back distinctly, and 
the more I use it the better I like it. " ABBIE R. STEVENS, 

" Oct. 9, 1879. » Salem, Mass." 

" I attend church, hear perfectly six pews from the desk, and can not hear the minis- 
ter's voice without the A udiphone. I go to lectures and concerts, and, in short, am 
alive again and a part of the world. Sometimes I think my Audiphone is bewitched, it 
works so well. "ABBIE. R. STEVENS." 

"Dec. 13, 1879. I Second Letter.] 

" The Audiphone came O. K. By its aid I am now able to join in general conversa- 
tion, which I have not been able to do for eighteen years. " H. K. TAYLOR, 
" Nov. 2:, 1879. " Cleveland, O." 

" The 'Phone at hand • and on trial even more satisfactory than could be expected at 
first use. My wife and friends are delighted and enthusiastic over it. They are rejoiced 
that I can hear, and I am glad that it no longer requires an effort on their part to enable 
me to do so. " E. C. ELY (firm, Reynolds & Ely), 

" Oct. 4, 1879. " Peoria, Ills." 

" 114 South Twenty-First Street, Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 15. 
" Messrs. Rhodes & McClure. — The Audiphone arrived safely, and I hasten to assure 
you of its perject success for my hearing. In ordinary conversation I can not use it 
against the eye-teeth as it makes the voices too loud, although the Audiphone is scarcely 
drawn. I entered into general conversaiion with perfect ease, last evening, for the first 
time for five or six years. A melodeon or piano I hear distinctly at great distances. 
Reading aloud is also easily heard. My family and friends are so rejoiced at my success, 
and regard the instrument in wonder. My physician is delighted with it, and thinks, as 
my deafness arose greatly from nervousness, that the Audiphone will stimulate the audi- 
tory nerve, and possibly benefit or restore my sense of*hearing. The terrible strain being 
taken from my mind gives me such rest and good spirits that I almost forget my deafness. 
" Yours very truly, " MRS. F. A. LEX." 

" Messrs. Rhodes & McClure. — The Audiphone, per Adams' Express, arrived all right, 
and my wife is delighted with it. She has been to the' theater and other public entertain- 
ments, and for the first time in twelve years was she able to hear all that was said. 
" Dec. 9, 1879. " H. A. BARRY, 26 Post Office Ave., Baltimore, Md." 

" My Audiphone is the wonder of the day. It helps me wonderfully in conversation. 

" B. H. M JLFORD, ESQ., Montrose, Pa." 

" My deafness is of long standing, having originated from an attack of scarlet fever 
more than thirty years ago. The hearing in each ear is defective and in one almost com- 
pletely impaired. The Audiphone forwarded has been tested in ordinary conversation 
and also by attendance upon the opera and perfectly subserves the purposes for which it 
was intended. My hearing when using the instrument is as acute as though no infirmity 
existed and the effect of the use of the instrument has appreciably toned up and improved 
the auditory organs — so much so as to have attracted the attention of my tamily. 

" I have exhibited the instrument to several friends afflicted with deafness. Among 
the parties who have determined to use your invention are Judge McCorkle, of California ; 
Gen. Boynton, of the Cincinnati Gazette ; and General Markham, a resident of this city. 
All of these gentlemen are afflicted with defective hearing. 

" G. W. CARTER. 
" Nov. 28, 1879. Washington, D. C. 

" I find that the more accustomed I become to the use of my Audiphone the better 

results do I obtain, and having been quite deaf for over thirty years I can assure you it is 

a great gratification to be able to attend any place where public speaking is going on and 

hear all that is uttered by the speakers — a pleasure that has been denied me all that time. 

Nov. 26, 1879. " JOHN B. SCOTT, New York." 



PERSONAL TESTIMONY. 3 

" It answers the purpose admirably. Has created quite a sensation amone mv friend-; 
"Sept. 21, 1879. "E. F. TEST, Claim Agent, U. P. R. R.,"Om!ha, Neb." 

" Your Audiphone to hand. The lady (my sister) has tried it and finds she can hear 
now an ordinary conversation which she can not do without it. I would not part with it for 
ten times its cost. " "\y. W. EVANS 

" Sept., 1879. " Grant Locomotive Works, Paters'on, N. J." 

" I procured an Audiphone yesterday and can already hear quite well an ordinary con- 
versation. " HENRY MILNES, Cold Water, Mich." 

" Music clear in any part of the room. To say that I am gratified would only express 
moderately how I feel. " G. H. PAINE, Freemont, Neb., Sept. 30, 1879." 

"The Audiphone is a great benefit to me. Without it music is a confused murmur 
of sounds ; with it I can hear the different parts as well as I ever could. 
" Dec - 6 . lS 79- " ABBIE WEST, Canton, Ills." 

" I am satisfied from experiments which I have witnessed that, excepting instances in 
which the Auditory nerve is totally paralyzed, all the deaf may, by its help, be enabled to 
hear and intelligently converse. " REV. S. H. WELLER, D.D., Morrison, Ills." 

" I have been deaf for thirty years, but can now hear distinctly with the Audiphone 

"JOHN ATKINSON, 
Sept. 19, 1879. •« Sec, Treas. and Sup't Racine (Wis.) Gaslight Co." 

"St. Joseph's Institute, 
" Fordham, (near New York City,) Dec. 4, 1879. 

'On Tuesday, the 2d inst., the Audiphone was tested by a number of pupils of the 
Institute with the following results : 

" Cecilia Lynch, aged 16, is supposed to have been deaf from birth. It has, however, 
been remarked that she could hear very loud sounds and could sometimes distinguish her 
own name if spoken in a loud tone by a person quite close to her. She says also that 
she sometimes hears the strains of the organ in the chapel, but so far from deriving any 
pleasure from the music the confused sounds are very di agreeable to her. By the use of 
the Audiphone she not only heard distinctly but could repeat almost every word spoken 
to her. As she has been instructed in articulation and reads easily from the lips it was 
thought that this knowledge assisted her. One of the persons present then stood behind 
her and repeated several words which she readily imitated, thus proving, beyond a doubt, 
the value of the Audiphone" 

" Annie Toohey, aged 10 years, became deaf at the age of three from spinal meningitis. 
It was supposed that her hearing was completely destroyed, but on applying the Audiphone 
to her teeth she heard and distinctly repeated after Mr. Rhodes several of the letters of the 
alphabet. This little girl has begun to make considerable progress in articulation, but up 
to the day on which she tried the Audiphone the vowel E appeared to be an insurmount- 
able difficulty to her; by the aid of the Audiphone she repeated it with perfect distinctness. 

" Another little girl, Sarah Fle-mming, also heard the voice of Mr. Rhodes and others 
who spoke to her. As in the preceding case, her deafness was caused by spinal menin- 
gitis, by which she was attacked when five years of age. By the aid of the Audiphone 
she was able to repeat several sounds. 

"Several others tested the Audiphone with more or less success. 

"MARY B. MORGAN, Principal." 

In a later letter (Dec. 12) Miss Morgan states: " No doubt the Audiphone will be of 
great service to our pupils." 

" Western and Atlantic R. Co. Office Treasurer. 

" Atlanta. Ga., Nov. 18, 1879. 
" Messrs. Rhodes & McClure.— Will you please send me a Conversational Audiphone 
by Express C. O. D., the price of which is $10, as per advertisement. 

" Very respectfully, 
" W. C. MERRILL, Sec. and Treas. W. & A. R. Co." 
" Please send me another Conversational Audiphone by Express."— (Telegram from 
W. C. Merrill, Nov. 24, 1879.) 

"Please send me Concert Audiphone by Express."— (Telegram from same, Dec. 9.) 
"i'lease send me Conversational Audiphone by Express." — (Telegram from same, De- 
cember 12.) [N.B.— Mr. Merrill is not an agent. He purchased these Audiphones, per 
telegram, for friends who had seen his instrument.] 

' R. S. Rhodes, Esq. — Dear Sir, — I avail myself of this opportunity to tender to you my 
best wishes for the success of your philanthropic invention. 

"Yours, "JAMES J. BARCLAY, 

" Dec. 9, 1879. " Sec. Penn. Institute for Deaf and Dumb, Philadelphia." 



4 THE AUDI PHONE. 

FROM THE PRESS. 

" We have seen and tested the Audiphone, to which we feel undtr obligations be- 
cause alone of the magical and blessed boon it has proved to several loved personal friends. 
In some cases the relief has been instantaneous, magical, and, to the patients, overwhelm- 
ing We have seen friends burst into glad tears and sink quietly to the floor under the 
glad stroke of gratitude and joy."— H. W. C. Advocate (from the Editor, Dr. Edwards). 
" Each note of the musician and each tone of the singer come as clearly and distinctly 
as they did before my sense of hearing was impaired."— Hon, Joseph Meddl^ Editor 
Chicago Tribune. 

" A man deafer than Edison has shown, by the Audiphone, that people born deaf or 
made deaf by disease, can actually be made to hear to a greater or less extent. —Detroit 
Free Press. Nov. 25, 1879. 

" It is valuable, and will materially help in the education of children like those at the 
Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and will doubtless prove an effective aid to the many people of 
impaired hearing. Its discovery therefore is a cause for congratulation, and its attractive 
appearance and convenience for use, so different from the old-fashioned ear trumpet, will 
serve to bring it largely into use." — Hartford (Conn.) Courant. 

" Deaf mutes were able to hear the music of the piano when at a considerable distance 
from the instrument."— A^. Y. Observer's Report 0/ Private Exhibition. 

" This wonderful invention promises to be one of great value."— Illustrated H. Y. 
Christian Weekly. 

" Mr. Rhodes has shown that people born deaf, or made deaf by disease, can actually 
be made to hear. 1 '— Hew York World. 

" Tests were satisfactorily applied to several members of a class of deaf mutes who were 
present, and the pleasure at hearing sound evinced by one youna; girl was most interest- 
ing and touching. A new organ, or a new use for an organ, is discovered, if not created. 
—From Jenny June's Letter in Baltimore A merican. Dec. 1, 1879. 

" Mr. James Samuelson exhibited, in the Lecture Hall of the Free Library, Liverpool, 
England, an instrument designed as an aid to the deaf— the Audiphone -which he met 
with during his late visit to America. ... The general result appeared to be that, 
provided the auditory nerve itself was in a healthy condition, the Audiphone was ot great 
assistance to deaf persons."— Liverpool Daily Post. Dec. 2, 1879. 

" No spectacles will give a blind man sight, but the new instrument does give a deaf 
man hearing."— The Interior. Sept. 8, 1879. • 

" We have seen persons hear sound in this way (with Audiphone) who never knew 
what sound was." — Advance. 

" Catharine Lewis, a young lady, also an inmate of the Institution for the Deaf and 
Dumb at Philadelphia, ordinarily was able to hear a very loud voice. With the Audi- 
phone she could hear a.id repeat words uttered in a conversational Key. — Philadelphia 
Record's Report of Exhibition in Philadelphia. Dec. 9, 1879. 

" Not a few of the interested auditors were enabled to follow the proceedings by means 
of Audiphones, and all such cheerfully added their testimony to the great amelioration of 
what was, in some cases, almost total deafness of many years standing. —Philadelphia 
Times' Report of'Philadelphian Exhibition. Dec. 9, 1879. 

" At last the deaf are made to hear. Falling to hear through the front door of the 
ear the Audiphone carries it to the back."— Concord (H. H.) Daily Monitor. Nevem- 
ber 25, 1879. 

" The deaf-mutes were enabled to distinguish the difference between sounds, and en- 
joyed the singing of one of the ladies."— Hew York Tribune's Report of Exhibition. 
Nov. 22, 1879. 

" The mutes tested the Audiphone. A young man who had been deaf from infancy 
heard words spoken in the tone of ordinary conversation."— Hew York Sun s Report of 
Exhibition. Nov. 22, 1879. 

"In this invention Mr. Rhodes has proved himself a benefactor."— The Standard. 
Sept. 25, 1879. 

" A very valuable Invention."— Evening (Milwaukee) Wisconsin, Editor, J. F. 
Cramer. Oct. 1, 1879. 

" The fact of hearing through the medium of the teeth has long been known, but it 
has remained for the inventor of the Audiphone to utilize this fact for the benefit of the 
afflicted."— Hew York Star. Nov. 22, 1879. 

" A cla^s of deaf-mute:, from the Washington Heights Asylum were present, and the 
tests with them were quite satisfactory. Some heard the notes of the piano for the hrt* 
time."— Hew York Evangelist's Report of Hew York Exhibition. Nov. 27, 1879. 



FROM THE PRESS. 5 

" Seems to discount any of the instruments invented by Edison to aid the hearing." — 
New Orleans Times. Nov. 27, 1879. 

" The invention will have practical value." — New York Herald. 

" It is all the inventor claims it to be." Evansville {Ind.) Journal. Nov. 30, 1879. 

" The Trial was an eminent success." — Boston Traveler. Dec. 2, 1879. 

" It has been tested with rem trkable results in the Indiana Institute for the Deaf." 

Dr. Foote's Health Monthly. December, 1879. 

"The Audiphone, for the deaf, is like ; y to supersede the ear trumpet altogether - is 
not at all objectionable to carry or to use, and-enables thousands who never heard a sound 
in their lives to distinguish letters, words and music for the first time." — Church Union. 
November 29, 1879. 

" Immense value for the deaf." — The Faderneslandet. Sept., 1879. 

" The deaf, who h.td only heard conversation by its being shouted in a very loud tone 
or by the use of the ear trumpet, found that they could hear conversa: ion in the ordinary 
tone with considerable ease." — Providence (R. I.) Journal Report of Experiments in 
Providence, R. I. 

" Has proved a signal success." — Albany (A". Y.) Press. 

" Would be easily mistaken for a fan." — Democrat and Chronicle. 

" In many cases of deafness, where the auditory nerve is»impaired, the Audiphone can 
be of no avail ; but where, as is often the case, the defect is only in those parts of the e.<r 
by which vibrations are conveyed to the nerve from without, this invention will prove a 
great boon." — Washington (D C.) Post. Oct. 27, 1879. 

"Will practically restore to speech and hearing a large class of afflicted persons." — 
Toronto {Canada) Mail. Dec. 5, 1879. 

" Great benefit to those partially deaf." — Providence {R. I.) Journal. Nov 6, 1879. 

" Earlier reports are fully borne out by later experiments." — Denver Tunes. Decem- 
ber 6, 1879. 

" Mr Rhodes was warmly congratulated by the company, and Mr. Peter Cooper spoke 
of his invention as a blessing and a godsend to the afflicted." — Correspondent' ' s Report 0/ 
New York Exhibition, in Chicago I ntcr-Ocean. Nov. 29. 

" A new ami ingenious device by which the deaf are enabled to hear through the 
medium of the teeth." — New York Graphic. Nov. 21, 1879. 

" One of the wonders of this day of telephones, phonographs and the like, is the 
Audiphone, invented by Richard S. Rhodes, of Chicago, which enables deaf people to 
hear with thei-r teeth. People who have once heard, but have grown deaf, and thus know 
the meaning of sounds and can talk themselves, p actirally have perfect hearing restored 
by the use of the Audiphone." — Springfield Republican. 

11 Had it in our possession not more than two minutes before we were sati-fied that it 
was at least all that we anticipated, but have since found it to be much superior to antici- 
pations. Besides, we find it to improve by use, also to improve our natural hearing, which 
is. remarkable." — Editor Germantown Telegraph, Philadelphia, Nov. 26, 1879. 

" With a little practice the sounds thus received are interpreted the same as if they 
reached the nerves of hearing through the ear. ' — Scientific American. 



The Audiphone is Patented throughout the civilized world. 



Conversational, plain $10 

Conversational, ornamental $15, $25 and $50 

(According to Decoration.) 
Double Audiphone (for Deaf Mutes, enabling them to hear their own v ice) $15 

The Audiphone will be sent to any address, on receipt of price, by 

RHODES & McCLURE, 

Agents for the World, 
Methodist Church Block, - - CHICAGO, ILL. 

(Amliphone Parlors, Adjacent to the Office.) 



NEW AND POPULAR BOOKS 



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EDISON AND HIS INVENTIONS. 8vo.. 178 pages, 
Illustrated. Edited by J. B. McClure. 

This book contains the many interesting incidents, and all the essential facts l connected 
with the life of the great inventor, together with a full explanation of his principal inven- 
tions, including the phonograph, telephone, and electric light, which are explained by 
the aid of diagrams. — Preface. 

A very readable book. — The Standard. 

Full of valuable instruction. — The Inter-Ocean. 

Authentic information that relates to the man and his work.— Chicago Evtntng 
Journal. 

Price, in Cloth, fine, 75 cents. Paper Covers, 35 cents. 



lilNCOIiN'S STORIES. 8vo., 192 pages. Illustrated. Edited 
by J. B. McClure. 

J. B. McClure, who has become the most successful compiler of idle hour books in this 
country, has made another hit with a large collection of " Lincoln's Stories. Mr. 
McClure sells his books by the ten thousand. His compilations have decided merit. 
They are always of a pure, moral, and religious tone, and they hit the popular fancy.— 
The Interior. 

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MISTAKES OF INGERSOEE (No. i), as shown by Prof. 
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D.D., Rabbi Wise, and Others ; including also Mr. Ingersoll's Lecture, 
entitled, "THE MISTAKES OF MOSES." 8vo., 128 pages. Illus- 
trated. Edited by J. B. McClure. 

Bound in Paper Covers, Price 35 cents. 



MISTAKES OF INGERSOIX. (No. 2,, as shown by Rer. 
W. F. Crafts, Chaplain C. C. McCabe, D.D.. Arthur Swazey, D.D., 
Robert Collyer, D.D., Fred. Perry Powers, and Others ; including also 
Mr. Ingersoll's Lecture, entitled " SKULLS," and his Replies to 
Prof. Swing, Dr. Ryder, Dr. Herford, Dr. Thomas, Dr. Collyer, and 
other Critics; Ingersoll's Funeral Oration at his brother's grave, together 
with Henry Ward Beecher's and Hon. Isaac N. Arnold's comments on 
the same. 8vo., 150 pages. Illustrated. Edited by J. B. McClUEK. 
Bound in Paper Covers, 35 csnts. 



MISTAKES OF INGERSOLL and ESGERSOLL'S 

l^WERS 8vo., 278 pages. Illustrated. Edited by J. B. 
McCluVe "his volume includes the full contents of Ncs. i and 2- 
two volumes in one.) 
The collection is timely and "editable and its fairness in presenting both the text 

3aSS3teS5SaS«it^asa 

just, as in these instances.— Advance. 

Price, in Cloth, fine, $1.00. 

imTF,RTAINING ANECDOTES. 8vo., 256 pages. Illus- 
t«Sd Edited by LB^cClure. This volume includes Anecdotes 
SNo^ted Persons!^ Amusing Stories, Animal Stories, Love Stones, 
Falling Leaves, etc., from every available source. 

Price, in Cloth, fine, 75 cent: Paper Covers, 35 cents. 

MOODY'S CHILD STORIES ; or, STORIES _ OF 

CHILDREN. 8vo., 150 pages. Handsomely Illustrated. Edited 
by J. B. McClure. 

Price, in Cloth, fine, 75 cents. Paper Covers, 35 cents. 



MOODY'S ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Tabernacle, Farwell Hall, etc. 

°A'T„*.lf:KS7oS'.hich h.vo .hrillod hoodrod, of ,hou„nd,.-/W,<,r,-,>,. 

Banner. , 

Excellent reading. — Standard. 

J2S2£££S?£&2 So STwLk i!3»»l, and WU.-AT. W. CHr,,,,.. 
Advocate (Methodist). 

Price, in Cloth, fine. 75 cents. Paper Covers, 35 cents. 



STORIES AND SKETCHES OF GEN. 

** At Home Ind Abroa", in Peace and in War .including his trip ,« 
f„-4 ,11 ,(,, i„t- res tine anecdotes, incidents and events of his life. 



. GRANT, 

around the world, 
,tso. n».»e. 8vo., 2i6 pages. 
Handsomely illustrated. Edited by J. B. McClure. 

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